MEN  anJ  METHODS 


J.  R.  Saunders 


3.//.  2-2. 
LIBRARY  OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 

PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


Purchased  by  the  Hamill  Missionary  Fund. 


BV  2091  .34  1921 
Saunders,  J.  Roscoe,  1873- 
Men  and  methods  that  win  in 
the  foreign  fields 


Men  and    Methods  That 
Win  in  the  Foreign  Fields 


By 
J.  R.  Saunders,  Th.  D. 

Missionary  in  Canton^  China 

Men  and  Methods  That  Win  in  the 

Foreig7t  Fields 
i2mo,  cloth net  $i.oo 

The  author  of  «  The  Cross  and  the  Reconstruc- 
tion of  the  World  "  gives  in  practical  form  the  re- 
sult of  years  of  experience,  (his  own  and  others  ;) 
of  workers  bearing  upon  the  problems  of  Foreign 
Missions,  the  conditions  of  non-Christian  lands  and 
the  kind  of  missionaries  needed  to  accomplish  the 
greatest  results.  The  book  is  an  examination  of 
the  imperative  need  of  the  foreign  field. 

The  Cross  and  the  Reconstruction  of 

the  World 
i2mo,  cloth net  ;^i.50 

Dr.  George  W.  Truett  says :  "  This  book  traces 
the  present  rapidly  changing  world  conditions 
politically,  industrially,  socially,  educationally,  re- 
ligiously, making  the  earnest  insistence  that  Chris- 
tianity must  now  and  ever  be  the  one,  only,  all- 
sufficient  hope  for  humanity.  It  has  a  distinctly 
vital  message — a  message  supremely  needed  for 
these  momentous  days." 


Men  and  Methods  That 
Win  in  the  Foreign  Fields 


/_ 


By 


J.   R.   SAUNDERS,   Th.  D. 

Graves  T/ieological  Seminary,  Canton,  China 

Author  of  "The  Cross  and  the  Reconstruction  of  the 

IVor/d,"    "Chinese  As    They    Are,'*    "The 

Hak-kas,  A  Unique  People  in  China'' 


New  York  Chicago 

Fleming    H.   Revell    Company 
London       and       Edinburgh 


Copyright,  1 921,  by 
FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


New  York:  158  Fifth  Avenue 
Chicago:  17  North  Wabash  Ave. 
London:  21  Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh:       75     Princes     Street 


Because  of  their 

great  interest  in  the  effectiveness 

of  the    missionary  in  discipling 

the  stations 

this  volu7ne  is  affectionately 

dedicated  to 

MR.  and  MRS.  G.  W.  BOTTOMS, 

TexarkanOy  Arkamasy    U.  S.  A. 


Preface 

THE  greatest  task  confronting  the  Christian 
forces  is  making  known  the  glad  tidings 
unto  all  the  world,  disciple  the  nations  as 
our  Master  commanded.  Christianity  has  too  long 
looked  at  the  task  with  the  hesitating  attitude.  Un- 
til we  are  ready  to  enter  fully  into  the  Lord's  plan 
of  conquest,  we  must  suffer  and  struggle  in  vain 
against  the  forces  of  materialism  and  other  enemies 
of  success  in  our  home  churches.  Unquestionably 
the  Master's  challenge  comes  to  every  child  of  the 
Father  to  give  himself  completely  for  the  conquest 
of  the  nations.  We  cannot  expect  the  kingdom  of 
this  world  to  become  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and 
Christ  until  this  is  done. 

The  world  battle  depends  primarily  upon  the  men 
and  women  who  yield  themselves  absolutely  for  this 
conflict.  The  indwelling  Christ  in  *'  the  temples  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  "  ever  remains  the  ultimate  hope 
of  victory.  Our  chief  concern  for  this  and  all  ages 
is  the  kind  of  labourers  who  go  forth  as  ambassadors 
for  Christ.  In  the  mission  fields  where  least  has 
been  accomplished  and  the  non-Christian  forces  are 
most  firmly  intrenched,  the  most  difficult  battles 
must  be  fought,  hence  we  need  for  these  fields  the 
very  best  trained  and  most  effective  workers. 

7 


8  PEEFACE 

So  little  in  the  past  has  been  known  about  the 
conditions  of  the  non-Christian  lands  and  the  kind 
of  missionaries  needed  to  accomplish  the  greatest 
results,  we  have  not  made  the  progress  we  might 
have  done.  We  have  looked  at  the  problems  too 
much  from  the  home  view,  but  this  is  no  longer 
necessary.  The  experience  of  the  years  has  given 
us  many  valuable  lessons  bearing  on  the  world  battle. 
In  order  that  we  may  have  in  the  most  practical 
form  this  experience  and  information  concerning 
the  problems  we  must  confront,  and  how  we  may 
live  and  labour  to  bring  the  greatest  •  results,  this 
volume  is  prepared.  The  experience  and  informa- 
tion are  secured  from  the  men  who  have  laboured 
long  and  have  had  many  years  of  conspicuous  serv- 
ice in  the  practical  problems  of  conquest,  hence  the 
treatise  is  of  special  help  to  the  men  and  women  in 
preparation  and  those  in  their  early  years  of  service. 

It  is  with  very  great  gratitude  that  I  acknowledge 
assistance  given  me  in  the  preparation  of  this  volume 
by  the  older  missionaries  in  China  and  Japan  and  a 
number  of  students  of  world  missions  in  the  United 
States. 

J.  R.  S. 

Richmond,  Va. 


Contents 

I.  The  Importance  of  Man  Power         .  1 1 

II.  The  Physical  Needs — How  to  Live.  i8 

III.  The  Intellectual  Equipment     .         .  37 

IV.  The  Spiritual  Requirements     .        .  46 

V.  Entering  the  Field   of  One's  Life- 

Work — The  Adjustment       .        .  60 

VI.  Labouring  With  the  Natives    .        .  68 

VII.  Working  With  Fellow-Missionaries  79 

VIII.  Methods    Opportune    for     Present 

Emphasis 89 

IX.  The  Present  Call  and  Who  Should 

Go 99 

X.  The  Church's  Duty  to  Her  World 

Men 108 


THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  MAN  POWER 

MORE  and  more  the  Christian  forces  are 
realizing  the  importance  of  man  power 
in  the  effort  to  conquer  the  world  for  our 
Master.  We  are  beginning  to  understand  what  the 
Saviour  taught  us  by  example  concerning  man 
power.  He  started  His  world  reign  by  choosing  a  few 
men  and  labouring  continuously  to  develop  these  so 
that  when  He  ascended  to  the  Father,  He  could  com- 
mit to  them  the  task  of  making  known  His  glad  tid- 
ings to  all  men.  Jesus  did  not  give  much  time  to 
systems  and  plans  of  a  mechanical  kind.  The  key 
to  all  systems  and  plans  is  the  man.  As  long  as  the 
early  churches  were  true  to  the  emphasis  of  our 
Master,  the  churches  were  a  conquering  force;  but 
as  soon  as  the  emphasis  was  transferred  to  organiza- 
tions and  ceremonial  forms,  where  man  became  sec- 
ondary in  the  mechanical  order,  the  deadening,  life- 
destroying  process  of  decay  hastened  to  nullify  the 
power  and  glory  of  Christianity. 

The  rise  and  fall  of  Christianity  can  be  traced  to 
where  God's  people  have  put  the  emphasis.  Where 
first  place  has  been  given  to  outward  forms  and 
clanging  machinery  rather  than  on  the  '*  temples 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,''  where  Christ  wishes  ever  to  live 

11 


12  MEN  AND  METHODS 

and  to  dominate,  stagnation  and  death  to  all  true 
Christian  activity  have  invariably  come.  However 
as  the  emphasis  has  returned  to  where  Christ  put  it — 
making  life  yielded  fully  to  the  Father's  will  for  the 
world's  needs  the  chief  concern — the  growth  of  the 
churches  and  the  kingdom  has  been  expansive  with 
accelerated  power. 

The  Great  World  Struggle,  which  we  have  recently 
seen,  has  taught  us  some  valuable  lessons,  but  they 
have  cost  us  too  much.  If  we  had  been  true  to  the 
model  of  the  Master,  we  would  have  known  these  les- 
sons all  the  while.  In  the  European  conflict  victory 
did  not  come  to  those  who  had  the  finest  fighting 
machinery,  or  necessarily  to  the  largest  numbers,  but 
rather  to  the  kind  of  soldiers — the  morale  and  en- 
thusiasm these  soldiers  had  for  the  ideals  of  the  con- 
flict. Both  sides  laboured  faithfully  the  world  over 
to  win  the  moral  support  of  the  masses  and  protect 
the  morale  of  the  men  on  the  battle-fields.  Luden- 
dorfp  in  giving  the  reasons  why  the  Central  Powers 
failed  says  that  it  was  due  to  weakening  of  the  mo- 
rale because  of  the  lack  of  proper  support  by  the 
home  basis.  The  soldiers  lost  courage  as  reports 
came  from  the  home  land  saying  that  the  people  were 
not  backing  the  advancing  armies.  This  explana- 
tion may  not  be  altogether  correct,  but  it  has  much 
truth  in  it.  The  kind  of  men  are  far  more  impor- 
tant than  the  number  in  any  kind  of  battle,  and 
especially  in  labouring  to  establish  the  Kingdom  of 
God  in  the  hearts  of  men.    Jehovah  wants  to  show 


IMPORTANCE  OF  MAN  POWER  13 

Himself  strong  unto  men,  but  men's  hearts  must  be 
right  towards  Him  and  the  ideals  of  His  kingdom 
before  He  can  do  this  in  a  large  way.  Undoubtedly 
the  most  important  question  facing  us  to-day  is 
that  of  man  power,  and  we  have  given  far  too  little 
concern  to  the  question  that  is  the  basis  of  all  real 
success  in  the  Father's  kingdom. 

In  Millard's  Review,  March  16,  1918,  the  editor 
tells  about  a  young  man  who  came  to  Shanghai, 
China,  for  business  and  soon  wrecked  his  health  and 
died  because  he  did  not  know  how  to  adjust  himself 
to  the  conditions  of  that  Oriental  city.  He  writes 
as  follows:  **  He  came  for  a  fortune  and  got  an 
early  grave.  It  might  have  happened  anyway,  then 
again  it  might  not.  We  do  not  intend  to  preach  a 
sermon,  and  we  could  not  if  we  wished,  but  we  do 
believe  that  the  managers  of  large  business  firms 
that  bring  young  men  out  to  China  have  a  respon- 
sibility— a  moral  responsibility — to  see  that  their 
young  men,  at  least,  get  the  right  start.  Sound 
advice  on  the  part  of  an  *  old  hand  '  will  often  work 
wonders  with  a  young  man  just  starting  out  on  his 
career.  Furthermore  it  is  the  very  best  of  good 
business.''  If  the  editor  of  a  secular  paper  can 
write  this  way  about  a  business  man,  how  much 
more  important  it  is  that  we  **  start  our  young  men 
right"  who  are  '*on  business  for  the  King."  The 
Standard  Oil  Company  does  not  desire  to  send  men 
to  the  foreign  fields  until  they  have  spent  some  time 
in  New  York  City  studying  these  fields  and  how  to 


14  MEN  AND  METHODS 

adjust  their  lives  to  meet  conditions  making  for  the 
most  efficient  service.  These  men  for  the  foreign 
work  may  have  ever  so  fine  training  in  the  schools 
and  business  of  this  country,  but  they  must  have 
this  extra  preparation  before  they  are  permitted  to 
enter  these  new  fields.  This  business  company  is 
wise  and  fair  with  her  men.  Are  we  wise  in  failing 
to  give  the  young  missionary  this  practical  training 
before  he  enters  the  fields  of  great  responsibility  for 
our  Lord  and  His  churches? 

It  is  a  dire  waste  of  money  and  man  power  (which 
is  far  more  important)  to  omit  giving  the  young 
soldier  for  our  King  that  practical  training  which 
will  enable  him  to  live  long  and  to  labour  well  in 
these  foreign  fields.  We  have  failed  sadly  in  the 
past,  and  will  do  so  in  the  future,  if  adequate  facili- 
ties are  not  provided  and  every  outgoing  labourer 
required  to  know  conditions  he  must  face  and  how 
to  do  it  to  the  glory  of  God,  to  the  joy  of  his  own 
heart,  and  as  well  as  to  that  of  those  who  send  him 
to  the  work.  If  we  fail  in  this  preparation,  we  sin 
against  the  light  of  our  age  and  play  into  the  hands 
of  the  enemy  of  success. 

When  I  was  in  Peking,  China,  last  year  I  had  a 
most  helpful  talk  with  Julean  Arnold,  the  American 
Commercial  Attache  for  China.  After  conversing 
with  our  Minister,  Dr.  Paul  S.  Reinsch,  concerning 
China's  greatest  need,  he  told  me  that  the  one  man 
who  knew  most  about  this  question  and  is  the  most 
sympathetic  with  the  noble  desire  to  help  China  is 


IMPOETAKCE  OF  MAN  POWER  15 

Julean  Arnold,  and  he  asked  me  to  see  him.  Mr. 
Arnold  has  been  in  China  for  some  twenty  years, 
holding,  in  various  sections,  positions  of  great  im- 
portance to  our  government  and  to  China.  He  has 
studied  every  effort  being  used  to  better  the  distress- 
ing condition  of  the  Chinese  people.  This  practice 
has  caused  him  to  give  special  study  to  the  mission- 
ary propaganda  all  over  the  nation  as  he  has  trav- 
elled. He  knows  the  missionary  work  as  well  as  any 
man  in  China.  He  expressed  the  firm  conviction  that 
if  China  is  to  be  won  to  Christ  (and  he  thinks  she 
can  be),  we  must  send  out  the  right  kind  of  mis- 
sionaries, men  capable  of  leading  the  Chinese  and 
make  the  nation  what  she  needs  to  be.  The  follow- 
ing are  his  exact  words :  * '  Our  American  missionary 
societies  in  China  have  a  grand  opportunity  if  they 
will  but  rise  to  it.  They  have  the  full-hearted  good 
will  of  the  entire  400,000,000  of  the  Chinese  popula- 
tion, and  if  they  will  rise  to  the  glorious  opportu- 
nity which  now  presents  itself,  they  may  have  a  stu- 
pendous influence  in  the  making  of  a  New 
China.  ...  To  get  results  commensurate  with 
the  opportunities  presented  they  must  concentrate 
their  efforts  on  training  leaders.  With  their  limita- 
tions in  men  and  materials  they  can  never  hope  to 
reach  individually  a  large  proportion  of  China's 
immense  population ;  but  by  concentrating  their  ef- 
forts on  the  training  of  leaders  they  may  eventually 
reach  all  of  China's  hundreds  of  millions. 

*'To  train  leaders  is  no  small  task.    It  takes  lead- 


16  MEN  AND  METHODS 

ers  to  train  leaders.  Thus  what  American  mission- 
aries do  from  now  on  in  China  depends  entirely 
upon  what  sort  of  men  and  women  are  entrusted 
with  the  work.  Quality  in  work  means  quality  in 
workers.  If  American  missionary  societies  are  to  be 
an  influence  in  China's  transition  from  a  medieval 
individualistic  people  to  a  modern  organized  society, 
their  work  will  have  to  be  entrusted  to  men  and 
women  of  big  calibre  and  big  visions,  leaders  in 
reality  or  in  potentiality.  Men  and  women,  sent 
from  America  to  China,  should  be  carefully  chosen. 

"It  is  not  the  mission  so  much  as  it  is  the  men 
and  women  in  the  mission  which  make  for  the  suc- 
cess in  the  mission's  work  in  China.  Thus,  if  our 
mission  boards  at  home  will  use  great  care  in  select- 
ing men  and  women  and  will  make  it  possible  by 
the  facilities  accorded  those  whom  it  selects  to  do 
effective  work,  it  may  rest  assured  its  labours  in 
China  will  not  be  in  vain ;  but  if  on  the  other  hand 
it  sends  out  mediocre  men  and  women  to  China,  or 
handicaps  its  good  men  and  women  with  inadequate 
facilities,  then  its  work  may  be  in  vain.  Quality  in 
men  and  material  should  be  the  watchword,  and  its 
objective  the  training  of  leaders  both  men  and 
women.  With  this  watchword  and  this  objective,  it 
may  hope  to  see  the  day  when  the  Bible  will  be  in 
the  field,  factory,  trading  corporation,  and  in  govern- 
ment office.  Otherwise,  it  is  to  be  feared,  it  will  con- 
tinue to  be  confined  to  church  and  schoolroom.*' 

These  quoted  paragraphs,  from  a  statesman  of 


IMPORTANCE  OP  MAN  POWER  17 

wide  experience  in  China,  one  who  sees  the  situation 
as  a  whole  with  real  sympathetic  concern  for  the 
mission  work,  ought  to  be  worth  much  to  us. 

As  we  look  at  the  supreme  importance  of  our  task 
of  conquering  the  great  non-Christian  lands,  which 
task  we  have  hardly  begun,  we  are  forced  to  realize 
the  surpassing  importance  of  this  phase  of  the  work. 
The  importunity  of  the  subject  is  the  one  great  rea- 
son why  we  should  give  first  consideration  to  the 
practical  suggestions  of  men  who  have  lived  long  on 
the  fields  and  **made  good"  their  labours.  In  my 
travelling  over  China  and  Japan  I  found  it  was  the 
one  subject  about  which  our  heroes  of  long  and  suc- 
cessful labours  were  most  concerned.  The  moment 
they  understood  that  I  was  giving  special  thought 
to  this  phase  of  the  work,  they  were  ready  to  render 
me  any  aid  they  could.  What  I  say  is  largely  based 
on  the  experience  of  the  men  and  women  who  have 
demonstrated  their  argument  by  many  years  of  in- 
creasing success  in  solving  the  problems  of  these 
fields. 


II 

THE  PHYSICAL  NEEDS— HOW  TO  LIVE 

IN  this  chapter  I  give  the  experience  of  those 
who  have  lived  long  and  well  in  the  non-Chris- 
tian lands.  There  is  no  more  important  ques- 
tion confronting  the  missionary  if  he  wishes  to  make 
his  life  count  for  the  most  in  winning  the  world  to 
our  Saviour.  Not  that  a  long  life  in  any  field  is  the 
chief  concern.  It  is  better  to  live  a  few  years  and 
live  these  well  than  to  live  a  long  life  and  not  live 
according  to  the  Master's  plan  for  that  life.  Never- 
theless we  are  learning  that  the  life  lived  best  is  the 
one  that  is  lived  according  to  the  laws  of  nature  and 
efficiency,  and  other  things  being  equal,  will  be  the 
longest.  Sane,  natural,  wholesome  living,  wisely  ad- 
justing the  body  to  its  environment,  ever  in  touch 
with  the  source  of  all  radiant,  happy,  buoyant,  di- 
vinely received  and  unfolded  life,  is  one  of  the  finest 
assets  a  missionary  can  have  for  any  field.  How  to 
live  such  a  life  is  not  a  question  of  where  you  spend 
it,  but  how ;  not  a  question  of  the  forces  without,  so 
much  as  the  powers  within. 

A  closer  study  of  this  most  vital  question  has 
reveaJed  the  consoling  fact  that  missionaries  may 

18 


THE  PHYSICAL  NEEDS  19 

live  just  as  long  in  the  foreign  fields  as  in  the  United 
States  or  Europe  provided  they  live  according  to 
the  physical  needs  of  the  lands  wherein  they  labour. 
This  is  well  worth  repeating  a  number  of  times  if 
thereby  the  truth  is  driven  deep  into  the  hearts  of 
the  volunteer  and  young  missionary.  The  time  will 
come  when  the  volunteer  or  young  missionary  who 
is  not  willing  to  learn  the  laws  of  well-living  in  the 
non-Christian  lands  will  thereby  be  declared  unfit 
to  labour  in  these  lands.  The  sacrifices  offered  to 
Jehovah  from  the  early  dawn  of  history  were  re- 
quired to  be  ''without  blemish  and  the  best  of  the 
flock/'  and  to-day  as  we  of^er  our  bodies  a  living 
sacrifice,  they  ought  to  be  such  for  the  most  efficient 
service.  In  saying  this  I  am  not  unmindful  of  the 
fact  that  some  with  frail  bodies  have  done  fine  serv- 
ice and  outlived  those  with  strong  bodies  to  com- 
mence with;  but  this  proves  to  know  how  to  live 
and  labour  may  be  a  greater  blessing  than  the  nat- 
ural assets  of  our  bodies.  One  should  not  be  dis- 
couraged because  one  finds  oneself  with  a  defective 
body.  It  is  better  to  do  like  the  great  statesman, 
Theodore  Roosevelt,  who  studied  carefully  the  laws 
of  health  and  restored  his  weak  body  and  made  it 
strong  for  strenuous  work. 

It  was  my  privilege  to  make  observations  in  the 
Orient  and  learn  from  missionaries  who  have  lived 
long  and  wrought  well.  From  the  experience  of 
these  I  give  some  ''findings"  well  worth  our  careful 
consideration.     Dr.    Hume    of   the    Yale   Mission, 


20  MEN  AND  METHODS 

Changsha,  China,  writes  from  years  of  experience 
and  observation.  He  is  a  physician  well  known  in 
China.  His  chapter  in  *'The  Manual  for  Young 
Missionaries  in  China''  is  a  most  important  contri- 
bution to  the  question  of  **  How  to  Live  Long  in 
China. ' '  In  quoting  from  his  chapter  I  give  excerpts 
from  a  long  article  in  one  of  the  leading  magazines 
of  the  East,  Millard's  Review.  *'The  first  important 
point  made  by  Dr.  Hume  is  that  with  reasonable 
care  it  is  easy  to  keep  as  well  in  the  tropics  (and 
other  parts  of  China  as  well)  as  it  is  in  the  home 
land. ' '  And  now  for  some  of  the  rules :  *  *  Be  careful 
about  taking  physical  risks,  eat  only  thoroughly 
cooked  food,  do  not  expose  your  head  and  eyes  reck- 
lessly to  the  sun;  do  not  weight  your  head  down 
with  pounds  of  heavy  Hopees,'  but  find  the  lightest 
helmet  you  can,  one  that  will  shade  the  back  of  the 
neck  and  allow  free  circulation  of  air  between  the 
head-band  and  scalp. 

**Be  vaccinated  early  against  smallpox,  and 
against  typhoid  and  para-typhoid.  These  diseases 
are  so  prevalent  in  China  and  the  danger  of  infec- 
tion is  so  materially  lessened  by  these  simple  pre- 
cautionary measures,  it  is  wrong  not  to  use  the  pro- 
tection they  afford.  Other  infections  abound  in 
China,  tuberculosis  being  the  most  rampant. 
Against  this  nothing  avails  so  much  as  the  general 
building  up  of  the  system's  resistance  and  constant 
breathing  of  an  abundance  of  fresh  air.  Malarial 
fever  and  dengue  are  common  in  many  districts. 


THE  PHYSICAL  NEEDS  21 

They  are  carried  to  man  by  mosquitoes ;  it  is  there* 
fore  imperative  to  use  mosquito  nets  on  the  beds  or, 
still  better,  to  have  the  entire  house  screened  with 
wire  gauze.  Care  should  be  taken  to  avoid  the  bites 
of  other  insects  as  well ;  rat  fleas  are  the  transmitters 
of  plague;  lice  carry  typhus;  flies,  ants,  and  cock- 
roaches may  infect  with  typhoid ;  and  the  list  could 
be  prolonged.  Frequent  bathing  and  change  of  un- 
derwear afford  the  surest  protection. 

''Flies  are  bred  in  filth  and  should  be  rigorously 
kept  away  from  food.  Within  reasonable  limits  and 
after  finding  out  the  health  experience  of  your  par- 
ticular locality,  exercise  as  you  would  at  home.  Go 
in  for  that  form  of  exercise  that  appeals  to  you 
most,  whether  it  be  tennis,  cricket,  baseball,  boating 
or  walking.  For  those  who  have  not  the  time  or 
facility  for  the  more  formal  games,  the  daily  recrea- 
tive walk  should  be  a  duty.  And  there  are  scarcely 
any  who  cannot  plan  for  a  brief  daily  period  of 
home  calisthenics,  taken  in  a  sleeping  or  gymnasium 
suit. 

* '  Just  these  simple  measures  may  make  the  differ- 
ence between  health  and  invalidism.  Most  Western- 
ers need  more  sleep  in  China  than  at  home.  Plan 
for  eight  hours  as  a  minimum  and  for  nine  hours 
when  you  can  get  it.  Thorough  ventilation  of  the 
sleeping  apartment  is,  if  anything,  more  important 
in  China  than  at  home;  many  will  do  well  to  sleep 
on  the  porch  or  veranda.  (I  find  that  a  well  ar- 
ranged roomy  sleeping-porch,  large  enough  for  our 


22  MEN  AND  METHODS 

family,    the   greatest   blessing   to    our    household. 
Author.) 

' '  The  newcomer  will  usually  avoid  indigestion  by 
following  a  few  simple  rules: — eat  less  than  in  a 
colder  climate,  especially  of  meat.  In  summer  eat 
plenty  of  cooked  vegetables,  and  meat  but  once  a 
day.  Beware  of  all  uncooked  food,  especially  in 
summer,  avoiding  all  lettuce  and  other  vegetables 
with  whose  life  history  you  are  not  familiar.  Un- 
cooked or  inadequately  cooked  meat  is  frequently 
the  cause  of  tapeworm  infection;  boil  all  drinking 
water  and  milk,  eat  slowly,  chew  thoroughly;  keep 
the  teeth  well  cleaned  and  regularly  inspected  by  a 
competent  dentist ;  beware  of  Chinese  cooking ;  it  is 
frequently  very  rich;  and  its  very  tastiness  often 
leads  to  overindulgence  and  indigestion.  .  .  . 
Control  individual  irregularities  of  the  digestive  sys- 
tem, not  by  medication,  but  by  modifications  of  the 
diet.  If  constipated,  use  a  bulky  dietary,  with  whole 
wheat  bread,  olive  oil,  and  other  relaxing  foodstuffs ; 
if  prone  to  diarrhoea,  eat  a  concentrated  diet.  Do 
not  make  a  habit  of  adding  quantities  of  salt  to  your 
meals.  This  will  overtax  your  kidneys.  Intestinal 
parasites  abound,  many  of  these  entering  the  system 
with  the  food.  It  is  therefore  desirable  that  a 
physician  should  make  a  microscopic  examination 
occasionally  in  order  to  be  able  to  say  with  certainty 
whether  they  are  present,  and,  if  so,  to  institute  suit- 
able measures  for  their  removal.  Vermifuges  are 
usually  strong  poisons,  and  it  is  better  not  to  take 


THE  PHYSICAL  NEEDS  23 

them  on  the  mere  chance  of  their  being  needed,  but 
have  microscopic  proof  that  they  are  called  for. 

^'In  a  land  where  malaria  is  common  and  other 
parasites  of  disease  abound,  it  is  essential  to  keep  the 
heart  muscle  vigorous  and  to  maintain  an  adequate 
supply  of  good  red  blood.  Nothing  will  keep  the 
heart  muscle  so  sound  as  avoidance  of  excess  both 
in  food  and  drink,  and  the  provision  of  sufficient 
exercise  to  keep  the  body  muscles  in  good  trim. 
When  these  become  limp  and  flabby,  or  when  the 
body  becomes  over-fat,  it  is  safe  to  assume  that  the 
heart  muscle  has  followed  suit.  For  a  patient  who  has 
been  through  an  illness  or  operation  the  road  back 
to  health  and  vigour  seldom  lies  in  medication  with 
pills  and  tonics,  but  more  often  in  graduated  exer- 
cise or  massage  and  suitable  dietary.  ]\Iodern  nose 
and  throat  specialists  tell  us  while  we  give  much  and 
deserved  attention  to  the  teeth,  we  practically  neglect 
to  clean  mth  regularity  the  upper  part  of  the  respir- 
atory tract.  It  should  be  part  of  one's  routine, 
especially  in  a  land  where  tuberculosis  abounds,  to 
use  an  indi^ddual  atomizer  as  one  uses  an  individual 
tooth-brush.  A  simple  alkaline  nasal  wash  and  throat 
spray  will  do  much  to  prevent  common  colds  and 
other  infections  through  the  nose  and  throat. 

*'  All  who  can,  should  make  the  cold  morning 
shower  or  plunge  bath  a  routine.  Provided  such 
bath  is  followed  at  once  by  a  good  reaction,  no  other 
tonic  is  so  good  for  the  respiratory  system;  but  it 
should  never  be  continued  if  chilling  or  other  ad- 


24  MEN  AND  METHODS 

verse  reaction  occurs.  Sponge  the  chest  often  mila. 
cold  water,  and  do  not  be  afraid  of  plenty  of  cold 
fresh  air  in  the  sleeping  room  at  night.  Practice 
deep  breathing  at  least  twice  a  day,  taking  each 
time  fifteen  or  twenty  full  breaths,  so  that  ample 
fresh  air  may  ventilate  those  upper  comers  of  the 
lungs  so  frequently  undistended  and  often  the  start- 
ing point  of  mischief.  Avoid  keeping  the  feet  or 
bodily  clothing  wet  for  a  long  time.  If  exposure  to 
the  wet  has  occurred,  get  a  hot  bath  and  dry  clothing 
as  soon  as  possible. 

**  No  part  of  one's  physical  being  will  be  so  sensi- 
tive to  the  change  to  China  or  need  such  careful  pro- 
vision for  its  well-being  as  the  nervous  system. 
Happy  the  newcomer  who  is  blest  with  a  buoyant 
temperament,  ready  to  rise  above  the  petty  annoy- 
ances of  the  day  and  hour,  who  eats  and  exercises 
regularly  and  takes  care  to  secure  long  hours  of  care- 
free sleep." 

Every  word  in  Dr.  Hume's  article  should  be  ob- 
served carefully  in  a  missionary's  life.  I  am  sure 
that  the  missionaries  who  have  lived  long  and  la- 
boured strenuously  and  successfully  will  be  the  first 
to  urge  their  observance  with  all  care.  Dr.  A.  A. 
Fulton,  the  senior  male  missionary  in  South  China, 
having  spent  nearly  fifty  years  in  and  around  Can- 
ton, is  still  very  active  in  the  work.  One  of  the 
younger  missionaries  told  me  that  Dr.  Fulton  would 
be  willing  to  close  a  mission  meeting  at  four  o'clock, 
be  the  business  ever  so  important,  in  order  that  he 


THE  PHYSICAL  NEEDS  26 

and  others  might  have  a  good  game  of  tennis.  He 
sees  the  fun  in  many  things,  takes  his  exercise  regu- 
larly, is  careful  as  to  what  he  eats  (he  is  a  strict 
vegetarian),  and  is  temperate  in  all  things.  This 
explains  why  he  is  even  at  his  present  age  more 
active  than  many  of  the  young  missionaries. 

I  asked  a  number  of  our  most  successful  veterans 
in  China  How  We  Might  Live  Long  and  Bo  Stren- 
uous Work.  I  will  give  some  excerpts  from  these 
replies.  A  number  wrote  at  length,  but  I  shall  give 
passages  of  the  replies  as  bear  especially  upon  our 
theme. 

Dr.  G.  F.  Fitch  of  Shanghai,  who  has  spent  fifty 
years  in  China,  writes :  ' '  I  think  with  care  and  due 
regard  to  the  laws  of  health,  a  man  ought  to  live  as 
long  in  China  as  in  America.  Take  my  own  case 
for  example.  I  was  not  at  all  robust  when  I  came 
out  in  1870,  but  before  coming  out  to  China,  made 
it  my  object  to  study  up  somewhat  on  the  laws  of 
health  and  right  living,  and  especially  as  regards 
food,  sleep,  and  exercise,  and  the  right  use  of  all  my 
powers,  striving  to  avoid  all  excesses  of  every  kind, 
and  not  to  worry  or  fret  no  matter  how  things  were 
going.  My  first  two  years  were  spent  almost  entirely 
in  study,  though  after  a  year  and  a  half  I  was  left 
by  my  senior  in  sole  charge  of  the  treasury,  station, 
and  out-station  work,  etc.  As  a  rule  my  wife  and  I, 
who  studied  the  language  together,  stopped  regularly 
at  four  o'clock  and  went  for  a  walk,  rain  or  shine. 
Finding  that  coffee  and  tea  did  not  agree  with  me, 


26  MEK  AND  METHODS 

even  in  moderation,  I  gave  them  up,  and  have  taken 
neither,  to  any  extent,  for  some  forty  years.  For 
some  seventeen  years,  I  was  engaged  almost  exclu- 
sively in  evangelistic  work,  such  as  street  chapel 
preaching,  distributing  (generally  selling)  books  and 
tracts,  itinerating,  preaching  on  the  streets,  etc. 

**  I  was  asked  by  our  Board  to  go  to  Shanghai  and 
take  charge  of  our  Mission  Press,  the  treasury,  etc. 
(the  latter  involving  a  responsibility  of  some  eight 
hundred  thousand  dollars  a  year),  and,  in  fact,  to 
be  their  general  agent  for  North  and  Central  China. 
I  mention  this  to  show  that  my  life  has  not  been  an 
inactive  one.  For  many  years  I  was  also  editor  of 
the  Chinese  Recorder. 

"Now  at  the  end  of  almost  forty-nine  years  (he 
wrote  over  a  year  ago)  in  China,  including  furloughs, 
I  find  myself  still  in  excellent  health,  considering  my 
seventy-four  years,  have  &Ye  children,  all  born  in 
China  and  labouring  here  as  missionaries,  having 
nineteen  grandchildren  living,  one  only  having  died 
in  all  these  years  besides  my  wife,  who  died  last  year, 
aged  seventy. 

''My  children  and  grandchildren,  for  aught  I  can 
see,  are  just  as  well  and  strong  as  those  born  in 
America.  Indeed,  when  I  have  been  in  the  United 
States,  I  have  been  surprised  to  see  how  few  families 
there  were  with  such  healthy  strong  children  and 
grandchildren  as  mine. 

' '  I  think  in  the  early  days,  when  there  were  fewer 
facilities  for  travel  and  inferior  methods  of  recrea- 


THE  PHYSICAL  NEEDS  27 

tion,  and  perhaps  not  so  much  attention  given  to 
hygiene,  China  got  rather  a  bad  reputation  for 
health.  There  are  many  drawbacks,  to  be  sure,  in 
many  places,  but  I  feel  with  reasonable  conformity 
to  God's  laws  of  health,  proper  control  of  one's  appe- 
tites and  passions,  willingness  to  deny  oneself  for 
Christ's  sake,  and  be  happy  in  so  doing,  other  things 
being  equal,  one  may  expect  to  live  just  as  long  and 
be  just  about  as  well  here  in  China  as  in  America. 
I  believe  that  any  one  coming  as  a  missionary  to 
China,  giving  himself  whole-heartedly  to  the  service 
and  for  the  glory  of  God,  may  put  in  a  plea  for  and 
expect  to  receive  special  blessing  and  help  from  Him, 
not  only  for  soul,  but  also  for  body,  both  of  which 
are  His.*' 

Dr.  Arthur  H.  Smith,  who  has  been  in  China 
nearly  fifty  years,  the  one  who  has  written  so  many 
books  about  the  Chinese  people,  wrote:  ''Your  ex- 
perience in  China  must  have  shown  you  that  the 
climate  (whatever  criticism  may  be  made  on  it)  is 
on  the  whole  equal  to  that  of  any  other  mission  field 
and  superior  to  most.  In  our  own  mission  (Ameri- 
can Board)  we  have  in  the  city  of  Peking  one  lady 
who  has  been  just  fifty  years,  another  fifty-one  years, 
and  a  man  fifty-four  years.  There  are  also  living  in 
the  United  States  two  former  members,  one  of  whom 
spent  fifty  years  in  China  (with  abatements  for  ab- 
sence), and  the  other  fifty-three  years.  In  the  Pres- 
byterian Mission  Dr.  Wherry,  Peking,  recently  died 
after  a  life  of  fifty-five  years  in  China,  and  Mrs. 


28  MEN  AND  METHODS 

Lowry  died  this  month  after  fifty-two  years.  The 
distinguished  Dr.  Martin  of  Peking  broke  all  records 
by  living  in  China  some  weeks  over  two-thirds  of  a 
century.  (Of  course  no  one  can  tell  to  what  age 
they  might  have  lived  elsewhere ! ) 

* '  For  my  part  I  do  not  estimate  highly  individual 
rules  of  health.  General  principles  are  vital.  They 
should  be  studied,  mastered  and  (which  is  much 
more  difficult)  obeyed. 

*'  Grave  as  the  matter  of  health  is,  of  even  more 
importance  are  the  moral  and  spiritual  qualities  of 
the  missionary.  In  appointments  there  is  sometimes 
a  risk  that  these  will  be  taken  for  granted,  but  this 
is  a  grievous  mistake. 

' '  I  trust  you  may  be  used  of  the  Lord  to  deepen 
in  some  minds  an  impression  of  the  difficulty  and  of 
the  importance  of  any  mission  work  anywhere.'* 

Kev.  John  E.  Hykes,  D.  D.,  of  Central  China,  gives 
these  suggestions:  ** Avoid  the  sun,  wear  a  sun-hat, 
and  during  the  strong  sun  of  the  summer,  carry  an 
umbrella. 

'*Be  particularly  careful  to  provide  against  the 
sudden  change  of  temperature  during  the  month  of 
September.  This  applies  especially  to  the  nights. 
Put  extra  cover  on  the  bed  if  the  temperature  drops. 

*'Do  not  eat  raw  vegetables  or  uncooked  fruits 
unless  the  latter  are  sterilized. 

'*Be  vaccinated  against  smallpox  at  regular  and 
frequent  intervals.  Be  inoculated  against  typhoid 
and  para-typhoid. 


THE  PHYSICAL  NEEDS  29 

**Take  regular  exercise;  work  on  a  regular  pro- 
gram. 

''I  have  been  in  China  since  1873 — a  period  of 
more  than  forty-five  years — and  have  never  had  a 
serious  illness  due  to  the  climate.  I  see  no  reason 
why  a  foreigner  should  not  live  as  long  in  China  as  in 
the  home  land." 

Dr.  R.  H.  Graves  of  Canton,  China,  spent  fifty- 
six  years  in  the  work,  never  strong,  but  was  an  un- 
tiring worker,  faithful  to  his  post  of  duty,  rain  or 
shine,  winter  or  summer,  amidst  many  trials  in  his 
early  labours.  He  was  very  careful  in  his  eating 
and  used  this  method  to  keep  fit  for  work.  He  was 
patient  and  temperate  in  all  things,  working  steadily 
but  quietly,  making  the  following  the  rule  of  his  life : 
''The  place  of  duty  is  the  place  of  safety." 

Dr.  R.  T.  Bryan,  Shanghai,  who  has  spent  nearly 
forty  years  very  actively,  gives  a  number  of  helpful 
suggestions:  **Live  naturally.  (Dr.  Bryan  empha- 
sized this  in  many  ways.)  One  ought  to  be  careful 
and  take  the  advice  of  those  who  have  had  more  ex- 
perience. The  wise  person  will  seek  to  adapt  him- 
self to  his  surroundings  in  all  things.  This  should 
certainly  be  done  in  matters  pertaining  to  health. 

''At  night  hang  up  your  troubles  with  your 
clothes  and  go  to  bed,  and  next  morning,  if  possible, 
leave  the  troubles  off.  Be  hopeful  and  optimistic 
under  all  circumstances,  leaving  the  difficult  things, 
which  you  cannot  do,  to  God.  Talk  about  difficulties 
as  little  as  possible.    Drink  plenty  of  water.    I  found 


80  MEN  AND  METHODS 

that  I  was  drinking  too  little  water.  All  work  and 
no  play  makes  Bob  a  dull  boy. 

Be  Temperate  in  All  Things." 

Dr.  Hunter  Corbett  of  Shantung  Province,  China, 
gives  us  one  of  the  most  helpful  messages.  He  has 
spent  fifty-four  years  in  the  work  and  is  still  very 
active.  His  words  ought  to  be  in  the  hearts  of  every 
missionary  and  kingdom  builder. 

"  I.  Seek  to  understand  and  live  as  required  in 
Romans  12  and  1  Corinthians  6 :  19,  20.  I  think  the 
Apostle  here  gives  one  of  the  secrets  of  his  own  suc- 
cessful life — the  acceptable  sacrifice  must  be  free 
from  blemish.  This  requires  nourishing  food,  suffi- 
cient sleep  and  rest,  and  strict  obedience  to  the  laws 
of  health. 

*  *  II.  Strive  to  live  day  by  day  as  the  Apostle  did 
in  Philippians  4 : 4-13.  To  be  able  to  rejoice  in  the 
Lord  always,  we  must  live  and  pray  as  verses  5  and  6 
require.  If  we  faithfully  do  our  part,  surely  our 
Heavenly  Father  will  fulfill  to  us  verse  7.  What 
more  could  we  have  in  this  life? 

*'If  we  can  only  exercise  our  minds  as  verse  8 
requires,  will  not  this  help  us  to  live  at  peace  with 
others  and  grow  in  contentment  as  Paul  did  in  verses 
9-13  r' 

Mr.  Hawks  Pott,  President  and  Founder  of  St. 
John's  University,  one  of  the  most  influential  insti- 
tutions in  the  Orient,  gives  out  of  his  long  experience 
the  following:  **0f  course  climate  in  different  parts 
of  China  varies  very  much  and  it  would  not  be  pos- 


THE  PHYSICAL  NEEDS  31 

sible  to  say  that  all  places  are  equally  healthy.  On 
the  whole,  however,  I  think  a  person  may  live  as  long 
in  China  as  he  would  in  the  United  States. 

' '  A  missionary,  if  he  wants  to  keep  in  good  health, 
should  take  regular  mental  and  physical  recreation. 
By  mental  recreation  I  mean  that  he  should  not  be- 
come so  much  absorbed  in  his  work  that  he  neglects 
to  give  himself  time  for  general  reading.  We  all 
know  that  the  mind  and  the  body  react  on  each 
other.  The  man  who  becomes  so  absorbed  in  his 
work  that  he  never  thinks  of  anything  else  is  apt  to 
become  morbid  and  nervous,  and  this  tells  on  his 
bodily  health.  The  reading  of  good  books  not  di- 
rectly connected  with  his  own  work  will  help  him  to 
keep  his  mental  balance  and  this  will  react  on  his 
health. 

*'By  physical  recreation  I  mean,  of  course,  that 
he  should  take  some  regular  form  of  exercise.  Most 
missionaries  lead  a  sedentary  life  and  do  not  give 
themselves  enough  physical  recreation.  During  the 
summer  holiday  perhaps  they  err  in  the  direction  of 
taking  too  much.  During  the  working  period  they 
neglect  it  almost  entirely.  Dui^mg  the  winter  I  try 
to  get  a  walk  every  day  or  play  golf.  When  I  was 
younger,  I  was  fond  of  tennis.  Of  course  there  are 
many  things  from  a  medical  point  of  view  that  could 
be  mentioned,  but  I  will  simply  emphasize  these  two 
requisites.*' 

Mr.  D.  E.  Hoste,  Director  of  the  China  Inland 
Mission  in  China,  the  mission  with  the  largest  num- 


32  MEN  Amy  METHODS 

ber  of  workers,  gives  us  some  very  helpful  sugges- 
tions as  to  the  physical  needs.  His  words  are  the 
more  significant  since  they  come  from  a  mission 
known  the  world  over  as  stressing  the  spiritual.  We 
need  to  hear  him : 

**The  Health  of  the  Missionary: 

''(a)  Before  coming  out  he  should  be  carefully 
vaccinated,  and  re-vaccinated  and  subsequently  re- 
vaccinated  at  intervals  of  four  or  five  years. 

'*  (b)  It  is  desirable  that  he  should  be  inoculated 
against  typhoid  fever. 

**  (c)  It  is  most  important  that  he  should  never 
drink  unboiled  water  in  this  country.  To  do  so  will 
almost  certainly  result  in  his  having  typhoid  fever 
or  dysentery,  and  perhaps  both.  There  may  be  ex- 
ceptions to  this  rule  in  coast  ports  like  Shanghai,  but 
they  are  risky. 

"  (d)  For  nine  months  in  the  year  it  is  unwise  to 
go  out  in  the  open  with  the  head  uncovered.  This 
is  certainly  true  immediately  after  using  the  brain 
in  study  or  in  other  intellectual  exercise.  Want  of 
care  in  this  respect  has  resulted  in  injury  from  the 
sun,  more  or  less  severe,  in  a  number  of  cases  out 
here.  A  helmet  should  be  worn  for  five  or  six 
months  in  the  year,  according  to  locality. 

"(e)  Regular  brisk  exercise  should  be  taken 
daily.  A  walk  is  not  sufficient.  What  are  known  as 
the  Swedish  exercises  should  be  done  regularly.  A 
good  deal  of  dyspepsia  and  nervous  trouble  is  due  to 
lack  of  care  in  this  resi)ect.    If  the  abdomen  and  the 


THE  PHYSICAL  NEEDS  33 

internal  organs  are  not  kept  in  good  tone  by  exercise, 
a  man  easily  gets  indigestion,  constipation,  and  other 
troubles. 

*'  (/)  The  habit  of  going  to  bed  early  should  be 
formed  and  strictly  adhered  to.  A  man  should  not 
do  difficult,  exacting  work  after  the  evening  meal. 
The  easier  kind  ^vill  not  hurt. 

*  *  (gr)  The  habit  of  brushing  the  teeth  with  a  tooth 
powder  or  paste  at  least  twice  in  twenty-four  hours 
should  be  carefully  kept  up.  A  dentist  should  be 
visited  once  a  year.  Many  lose  their  teeth  and  so 
injure  their  health  through  want  of  attention  of 
these  two  points. '  * 

While  in  Japan,  I  had  a  talk  with  Dr.  Newton,  the 
president  of  the  Methodist  College  at  Kobe.  This 
institution  has  nearly  two  thousand  students.  I 
found  Dr.  Newton  strong  and  active,  bearing  nobly 
the  responsibilities  of  one  of  the  largest  Christian 
schools  in  Japan.  He  is  near  seventy,  having  done 
faithful  and  valiant  work  for  years  in  the  Island 
Empire.  He  said  if  we  are  to  make  a  large  impres- 
sion on  the  Japanese,  we  must  know  their  language, 
the  life  of  the  people,  and  do  solid  work.  For  our 
spiritual  and  physical  needs,  we  need  to  look  to  our 
Master  in  Whom  we  live,  move,  and  have  our  being. 
He  will  give  us  power  to  live  and  do  strenuous  work. 
He  impressed  me  as  a  man  who  lives  close  to  God 
and  depended  on  Him  for  both  physical  and  spiri- 
tual strength,  as  we  all  should  do  in  all  mission 
fields. 


34  MEN  AND  METHODS 

In  the  experience  of  these  workers  who  have 
wrought  long  and  well,  we  see  a  number  of  prin- 
ciples that  ought  to  be  known  and  adhered  to  with 
all  care  and  rigour.  If  we  fail  to  do  this  while  we 
are  young,  we  thereby  lose  the  opportunity  to  do  a 
large  work  for  our  Saviour.  If  we  are  not  willing 
to  conquer  ourselves  wholly  for  the  Lord  through 
His  power  and  wisdom,  we  cannot  be  fit  soldiers  to 
do  His  biddings  in  the  lands  that  need  the  strongest 
and  most  efficient  leaders.  To  follow  these  sugges- 
tions, full,  radiant,  conquering  life  through  the 
lengthening  years  is  ours  for  wise  constructive  la- 
bours for  establishing  the  Kingdom  of  God  in  all 
lands. 

In  these  messages  we  have  emphasized  afresh  the 
importance  of  the  physical.  This  properly  cared  for 
will  solve  many  problems  that  arise  from  nervous- 
ness and  morbid  minds  that  need  to  be  fought  with 
rigour  as  the  greatest  enemies  of  peace  and  progress 
in  many  fields.  My  own  experience  and  observation 
confirm  all  these  messages  give.  I  have  spent  nearly 
twenty  years  as  a  missionary  to  South  China.  I 
have  never  had  a  serious  illness  due  to  the  climate. 
I  was  not  strong  when  I  reached  China.  I  am  much 
stronger  now  than  then,  and  have  been  able  to  in- 
crease my  labours  with  the  years.  Mrs.  Saunders 
and  I  have  played  tennis  and  taken  other  forms  of 
exercise  as  regularly  as  we  have  had  morning  prayers 
— and  regarded  the  exercise  as  important  as  morn- 
ing devotion.    I  enjoy  my  cold  shower  bath  every 


THE  PHYSICAL  NEEDS  36 

morning,  and  find  I  have  not  suffered  from  colds 
for  years,  and  need  very  little  medicine,  though  I 
had  to  battle  with  malaria  most  of  the  time  until 
we  had  our  house  and  sleeping-porch  well  screened. 

If  you,  young  men  and  women,  with  most  of  life 
still  before  you  will  heed  carefully  the  messages  of 
these  soldiers  of  long  successful  records,  and  begin 
your  work  of  preparation  by  living  as  they  advise 
while  even  in  your  school  days,  we  will  soon  have  a 
new  army  in  the  foreign  fields,  equal  to  any  task, 
strong  and  ever  aggressive  for  the  Master.  This  new 
army  will  mean  a  new  era  for  the  Kingdom  of  God 
in  all  lands. 

In  noting  the  principles  of  highest  efficiency  for 
the  foreign  missionary,  I  cannot  refrain  from  sug- 
gesting that  these  principles  apply  to  all  workers 
for  our  God  in  any  land.  If  our  home  men  will  but 
observe  these  laws  of  greatest  power  and  service,  we 
shall  find  your  help  the  greatest  as  we  labour  to 
**send  the  light  to  the  heathen  lands"  and  give  our 
bodies  without  blemish  to  the  Lord  who  wants  to 
use  all  men  everywhere  to  conquer  the  whole  earth 
for  the  glory  of  the  Father.  Our  bodies  are  the 
Lord's,  ** separated  unto  the  Gospel, *'  habitats  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  to  reveal  the  life  and  message  of  the 
Father  at  home  and  abroad.  This  being  true  how 
can  any  minister  or  Christian  yield  to  habits  and 
appetites — for  the  sake  of  temporary  and  lower 
pleasure — and  weaken  our  God-given  powers  that 
ought  all  to  be  held  sacred  and  used  wholly  for  the 


36  MEN  AND  METHODS 

battle  to  make  the  kingdom  of  darkness  the  King- 
dom of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  ? 

These  bodies  are  eternal.  They  certainly  are  the 
only  instruments  that  the  Spirit  has  to  use  for  de- 
ciding the  eternal  forces  of  men  and  nations.  They 
should  never  be  used,  be  the  temptation  ever  so 
great  and  the  indulgence  ever  so  easy  and  seemingly 
harmless,  to  weaken  us  for  the  most  glorious  labours 
here  or  in  the  non-Christian  lands.  May  we  be  wise 
and  serve  our  generation  and  the  generations  yet 
ahead  according  to  the  will  of  God  by  'taking  heed'' 
to  the  things  written  concerning  our  bodies  in  this 
chapter ! 


Ill 

THE  INTELLECTUAL  EQUIPMENT 

NOWHERE  is  the  perfect  man  so  badly 
needed  as  in  the  foreign  fields — tJie  all- 
round  man, not  eccentric, with  few  (if  any) 
idiosyncrasies,  not  a  freak  even  in  mental  attain- 
ments. Sane,  safe,  and  dependable  is  the  kind  of 
missionary  that  counts  for  the  most.  Defects 
mental,  or  otherwise,  develop  rapidly  in  heathen 
environments.  We  need  men  of  great  minds,  capa- 
ble, equal  to  the  greatest  problems  of  growth  in 
the  churches  any^vhere,  but  no  mind  is  truly  great 
in  the  mission  fields  that  is  not  first  of  all  safe,  wise, 
and  wholesome  in  its  thinking  and  constructive  in  its 
effort. 

A  few  examples  will  illustrate  my  meaning. 
Years  ago  Boston  sent  to  South  China  one  of  her 
most  brilliant  and  eloquent  young  preachers  (from 
the  greatest  missionary  church  of  his  day),  attract- 
ive in  appearance,  and  zealous  for  the  Lord's  work. 
He  had  noble  motives  in  coming  to  China,  ready  to 
learn  the  language  and  do  the  Lord's  work.  After 
studying  the  language  for  a  year,  he  commenced  to 
preach,  but  preached  to  the  natives  ''in  an  unknown 
tongue, ' '  and  worse  still  a  message  not  at  all  adapted 

37 


38  MEN  AND  METHODS 

to  their  conditions,  since  lie  did  not  know  the  people. 
He  soon  found  that  conditions  were  very  different 
from  those  he  had  known  in  the  United  States.  He 
was  not  willing  to  make  the  adjustment,  do  the  work, 
and  soon  left  for  the  home  land  where  the  Master, 
no  doubt,  found  that  he  could  be  used  in  his  native 
environment. 

Soon  after  I  reached  China,  my  wife  and  I  spent 
the  summer  at  Macao,  near  Canton,  and  found  two 
sisters  *' waiting  on  the  Lord''  to  give  them  the 
tongues  so  they  could  speak  Chinese.  These  sisters 
spent  much  time  indoors  praying  for  the  ''gift,'* 
while  the  rest  of  us  studied  Chinese.  They  continued 
this  imploration  for  years,  and  soon  their  minds  be- 
came unbalanced  and  then  had  to  be  sent  back  home 
by  others, — disappointed,  physical  and  mental 
wrecks,  whereas  they  ought  to  have  been  a  great 
blessing  to  needy  souls,  waiting  for  the  Lord's  mes- 
sage. In  giving  this  incident,  I  do  not  mean  to 
minimize  the  Lord's  power  to  help  us.  He  could 
give  us  the  '*gift  of  tongues"  if  it  were  best,  but  our 
chief  need  is  to  know  the  people,  their  customs,  and 
life,  and  how  to  adjust  our  messages  so  as  to  be  un- 
derstood best  by  them,  and  we  need  to  be  forced  to 
study  the  language  for  years  before  we  speak  much 
to  them.  If  we  could  speak  at  first,  we  would  make 
mistakes  that  it  would  take  years  to  correct  if  they 
could  ever  be  corrected. 

Here  and  there  in  the  mission  fields  we  find  men 
and  women  of  brilliant  minds,  who  took  first  place 


THE  INTELLECTUAL  EQUIPMENT       39 

in  the  schools  of  the  West,  with  motive  high  and 
noble,  ^vith  zeal  commendable,  but  who  fail  to  fit 
into  the  conditions  of  the  field.  They  lack  that 
"soundness  of  mind''  emphasized  so  often  by  Paul 
in  his  letters  to  Timothy  and  Titus  as  they  took  up 
the  work  in  hard  mission  fields.  Without  this 
''soundness"  men  fail  in  the  mission  fields  as  mis- 
fits, instead  of  being  wise  constructive  leaders,  and 
are  thereby  lost  to  the  Lord's  work  because  their 
mental  training  in  their  early  days  was  not  accord- 
ing to  safe  lines. 

I  believe  we  are  beginning  to  understand  why 
Jesus  Christ  chose  such  men  as  He  did  and  committed 
to  them  the  destinies  of  His  kingdom  in  the  early 
days  of  His  efforts.  Among  the  Twelve  there  were  no 
great  schoolmen  with  minds  bound  to  the  traditions 
of  the  great  teachers.  The  Apostles  had  strong 
minds,  educated,  but  not  according  to  the  scholasti- 
cism of  their  day,  ready  to  handle  great  problems  as 
seen  through  the  unfolding  of  the  years.  We  also 
see  in  the  case  of  Paul  that  the  Lord  does  use  the 
highest  scholarship  and  the  greatest  minds  of  all 
ages  for  the  advancement  of  His  kingdom;  but  the 
elements  of  greatest  service  in  the  beginnings  of 
work  must  be  minds  willing  to  depend  wholly  upon 
the  Lord,  looking  well  to  the  practical  things,  pa- 
tiently labouring  **in  the  Lord,"  and  ready  to  en- 
dure as  seeing  Him  Who  is  invisible  though  He  is 
always  with  us  to  give  us  power  and  wisdom  for 
every  task,  giving  all  their  talents,  one  or  five,  to  Him 


40  MEN  AND  METHODS 

to  be  used  as  He  may  desire.  Fundamentally  the 
conditions  of  highest  service  remain  the  same  for 
all  time  and  in  all  lands,  but  we  can  see  them  more 
plainly  in  the  non-Christian  lands. 

Dr.  Arthur  H.  Smith  in  a  recent  article  in  the 
CJiinese  Recorder  has  these  words  bearing  on  this 
subject :  * '  The  facts  of  missionary  history  and  biog- 
raphy finally  discredit  the  theory  that  missionaries 
to  be  successful  must  be  drawn  from  certain  social 
classes,  pass  through  certain  educational  processes, 
and  represent  certain  limited  types. 

**Yet  in  the  midst  of  this  diversity  certain  char- 
acteristics emerge  with  a  persistence  which  suggests 
that  they  are  those  fundamental  and  essential  quali- 
ties of  which  we  are  in  search.  The  common  quali- 
ties appear  to  be  these :  courage,  physical  endurance, 
force  of  character,  mental  adaptability,  reality  of 
spiritual  experience,  devotion,  and  love.  .  .  . 
We  shall  show  that  the  conditions  which  make  spe- 
cialized preparation  essential  for  every  missionary 
are  largely  a  development  of  recent  date,  but  we  are 
more  concerned  to  point  out  that  the  highest  prepa- 
ration for  the  mission  field  was  that  which  our  fa- 
thers had.  They  were  learners  in  God  ^s  school  of  life ; 
the  divine  processes  which  do  the  main  work  of 
fashioning  men  and  women  into  missionaries  work 
on  them  and  in  them  for  years.  God,  the  great 
trainer,  fitted  them  by  the  discipline  of  life  to  be 
instruments  of  His  will.  Only  at  our  peril,  now  or 
in  the  coming  days,  can  we  count  any  missionary 


THE  INTELLECTUAL  EQUIPMENT       41 

preparation  of  greater  value  than  this.  It  is  the 
divine  foundation  on  which  all  else  must  be  built. ' ' 

These  words  of  Dr.  Smith  are  closely  related  to 
the  divine  message  of  our  Saviour  in  the  early  days. 
Also  Paul  in  Galatians  1 :  15-17  gives  the  preparation 
of  nature  (in  his  mother's  womb)  and  the  call 
through  grace  both  alike  part  of  his  preparation  to 
preach  the  Gospel  unto  the  Gentiles. 

Some  years  ago  I  was  greatly  impressed  by  an 
article  from  a  business  man  as  to  the  real  elements 
of  greatness  in  the  business  world.  These  are  the 
important  words  that  impressed  me:  **The  big  dif- 
ferences between  human  beings  do  not  lie  in  ability 
and  intelligence.  People  come  nearer  being  equal 
in  brains  than  we  imagine.  The  really  big  variations 
lie  in  force  and  ambition.  One  man  achieves  a 
thousand  times  as  much  as  another — not  because  he 
is  a  thousand  times  as  smart,  but  because  he  is  a 
thousand  times  more  determined. 

''On  no  other  theory  can  you  explain  the  sudden 
rise  of  the  'ordinary  man.'  Yet  we  see  it  all  the 
time.  Look  around  your  neighbourhood  and  you 
will  find  plenty  of  cases.  The  'ordinary  man,'  who 
begins  to  rise  at  unprecedented  speed,  does  so  be- 
cause he  suddenly  gets  a  vision,  develops  a  desire, 
sees  a  goal.  Having  done  this,  he  begins  to  travel 
at  a  pace  he  has  never  shown  before. ' ' 

These  words  will  fit  into  a  mission  journal  of  to- 
day. The  main  point  in  these  quotations  is  that  the 
labourer  in  this  world  to-day  ought  to  be  a  man  who 


42  MEN  AND  METHODS 

can  do  things  and  do  them  well  and  keep  on  doing 
them.  This  is  an  element  of  success  in  the  mission 
field  as  well  as  all  other  realms  of  mankind.  We 
shall  never  know  what  we  will  have  to  do  in  the  mis- 
sion fields,  but  being  able  to  do  well  whatever  our 
hands  find  to  do,  we  will  fit  into  all  conditions,  ready 
for  any  task.  Dr.  Clough  would  not  have  been 
blest  of  the  Lord  and  able  to  baptize  in  one  day  two 
thousand  two  hundred  and  twenty-two  Telugus  if  he 
had  not  been  a  man  able  to  handle  practical  prob- 
lems, and  thereby  prepare  the  people  to  understand 
spiritual  things.  This  was  the  Master's  way  as  He 
walked  among  men.  Some  men,  like  Dr.  Clough, 
may  make  a  poor  showing  in  the  schools  and  home 
churches,  but  they  have  the  mental  adaptability  and 
genius  for  doing  things,  and  in  the  end  the  Lord  can 
use  them  far  better  than  others  with  much  stronger 
minds  and  better  training. 

The  world  is  realizing  after  all  that  ''all  the  treas- 
ures of  wisdom  and  knowledge"  were  *' hidden *'  in 
the  Master,  and  His  way  is  the  wisest  and  best  for 
all  time  and  places.  The  whole  tendency  of  the  edu- 
cational enterprise  is  to  swing  back  to  the  practi- 
cable, developing  the  mind  most  by  solving  the  prob- 
lems of  life.  The  old  theory  that  the  mind  develops 
best  by  studying  the  abstruse  is  not  as  important  as 
it  once  was.  All  barriers  to  human  progress  must  be 
overcome,  all  difficulties  in  meeting  the  needs  of  the 
human  family  must  be  solved,  and  enemies  of  the 
whole  body  must  be  conquered ;  but  in  meeting  these 


THE  Il!n?ELLECTUAL  EQUIPMENT       43 

desired  ends,  the  strongest  and  most  efficient  minds 
are  developed,  and  the  highest  culture  obtained.  The 
foreign  mission  fields  cry  aloud  for  this  new  em- 
phasis. The  pride  of  culture  should  be  overcome  by 
the  humble  spirit  that  lives  to  serve  and  reveal  the 
Saviour  to  the  needy,  suffering  souls  and  bodies  of 
men,  our  brothers  waiting  for  the  blessings  of  the 
Father. 

In  saying  this  I  would  not  make  the  impression 
that  we  do  not  need  in  the  mission  fields  men  of  the 
greatest  minds  and  who  can  meet  life's  greatest 
problems  anywhere  in  the  world.  I  am  sure  no- 
where in  the  world  are  there  greater  calls  for  great 
minds,  capable  of  thinking  world  thoughts  and  meet- 
ing world  problems,  than  we  now  have  in  the  non- 
Christian  lands.  This  can  be  done,  however,  by  men 
who  see  things  as  the  Lord  does  and  then  by  con- 
secrating all  for  Him  to  use  for  kingdom  purposes. 

Paul,  near  the  close  of  his  earthly  career  in  writing 
to  the  young  missionaries,  who  were  to  continue  his 
work,  and  who  had  to  labour  in  fields  approaching 
the  foreign  situation  nearest,  emphasized  again  and 
again  the  little  word  ''sound''  as  expressing  one  of 
the  more  important  qualifications  for  their  labours. 
In  writing  to  Titus,  who  had  the  more  difficult  task, 
he  used  this  word  most  frequently  according  to  the 
length  of  the  letter.  Judging  from  the  above  ex- 
ample the  more  we  need  to  understand  and  appro- 
priate the  meaning  of  this  word  in  our  present  mis- 
sion activity.    It  is  used  in  a  number  of  connections. 


44  MEN  AND  METHODS 

*'A  sound  mind,"  ''sound  in  the  doctrine,  ''sound 
words,"  ''sound  in  the  faith,"  etc.,  etc. 

Just  what  did  Paul  mean  by  this  word  ?  He  must 
have  meant  what  wisdom  means  in  Proverbs  and 
more  too.  It  has  been  suggested  that  he  meant 
"wholesome,"  "healthful,"  "normal," — the  sane, 
symmetrical,  perfect  development  of  the  mind  that 
will  enable  one  to  see  things  as  they  are  and  use 
one's  talents  so  as  to  make  the  largest  contribution  to 
the  needs  of  people  as  the  Lord  would  have  one  to 
do.  An  investigation  as  to  the  conditions  confront- 
ing the  missionary  in  the  great  mission  fields,  will 
convince  us  that  Paul  knew  the  supreme  need  of  the 
mental  make-up  of  God's  servants  in  the  present  mis- 
sion work.  Mental  preparation  of  the  keenest  and 
highest  intellectual  attainments  will  fail  if  this  quali- 
fication is  lacking.  Unless  this  "soundness"  is  ever 
present  in  the  greatest  minds  and  most  highly  culti- 
vated, the  worker  will  not  only  be  a  failure,  but  may 
be  a  positive  harm  to  safe  and  successful  mission 
activities. 

I  must  not  leave  the  subject  of  the  intellectual 
without  calling  our  world  soldier's  attention  to  the 
fact  that  the  Lord  Jesus  must  have  absolute  control 
of  our  mental  life  if  we  are  to  be  kept  from  all 
dangers  and  made  the  right  kind  of  soldiers  for  the 
greatest  service  to  the  work  of  His  kingdom.  Jesus 
desires  to  use  all  our  powers  for  the  greatest  effi- 
ciency in  order  that  we  may  meet  the  world 's  needs, 
and  we  should  give  our  minds  to  Him  for  this  holy 


THE  INTELLECTUAL  EQUIPMENT       45 

purpose,  and  then  through  the  years  will  each  talent 
be  so  adjusted  to  the  needs  of  the  hour.  The  possi- 
bilities of  minds  so  given  is  beyond  the  dreams  of 
His  children,  yet  as  we  live  and  labour  for  Him,  we 
shall  realize  more  and  more  the  power  and  beauty  of 
all  minds  thus  given  to  Him. 


IV 

THE  SPIRITUAL  REQUIREMENTS 

IN  emphasizing  the  physical  and  mental,  I  do 
not  wish  to  minimize  the  spiritual.  In  fact  I 
rather  placed  due  emphasis  on  the  former  that 
the  latter  may  be  fully  attained.  Our  spiritual  de- 
pends greatly  upon  the  condition  of  the  physical  and 
intellectual.  The  revealed  will  of  God,  as  shown  us 
in  His  Word,  makes  this  plain.  The  body  offered 
**in  living  sacrifice  without  blemish ''  and  the  minds 
wholly  given  to  the  Father  enable  the  spiritual  life 
to  be  its  best  for  the  Lord's  work.  I  wonder  if  we 
have  not  often  forgotten  tliis  great  fact. 

The  foreign  missionary  knows,  as  but  few  do,  that 
he  is  fighting  *' against  the  principalities,  against 
the  powers,  against  the  world  rulers  of  this  dark- 
ness, against  the  spiritual  hosts  of  wickedness  in  the 
heavenly  places"  (Eph.  6:12).  He  needs  the  di- 
vine life,  the  Holy  Spirit  without  measure,  if  he  is 
to  conquer  these  forces  which  are  intrenched  every- 
where in  the  strongholds  of  society.  He  finds  that 
his  only  hope  is  in  the  conquering  Christ  indwelling 
through  the  Paraclete,  but  in  Him  he  has  all  power 
necessary  to  meet  the  needs  of  any  field. 

46 


THE  SPmiTUAL  EEQUIEEMENTS        47 

Paul  evidently  meant  the  following  elements  to  be 
those  he  regarded  most  important  to  true  success: 
**Love,  joy,  peace,  long-suffering,  kindness,  good- 
ness, faithfulness,  meekness,  self-control/'  Peter 
puts  it  this  way,  ''Adding  on  your  part  all  diligence, 
in  your  faith  supply  virtue,  and  in  your  virtue 
knowledge,  and  in  your  knowledge  self-control,  and 
in  your  self-control  patience,  and  your  patience  god- 
liness, and  in  your  godliness  brotherly  kindness,  and 
in  your  brotherly  kindness  love. ' '  James  gives  this, 
''The  wisdom  that  cometh  from  above  is  first  pure, 
then  peaceable,  gentle,  easy  to  be  entreated,  full  of 
mercy  and  good  fruits,  without  variance,  without 
hypocrisy."  John  says,  "These  (evidently  the  ones 
he  thought  accomplished  the  most  in  bringing  about 
the  Father's  reign  in  the  hearts  of  men)  conquered 
by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,"  possibly  suggesting  that 
they  in  union  with  the  Son  in  His  sacrifice,  by  faith 
and  unceasing  zeal  to  do  the  Father's  will,  helped 
to  conquer  the  evil  forces  of  their  day  to  the  glory 
of  the  Father.  Unquestionably  we  have  in  the  words 
of  these  different  writers  what  the  writers  of  the 
New  Testament  believed  to  be  the  greatest  qualities 
for  success  in  the  Lord 's  work. 

These  elements  primarily  refer  to  the  manner  of 
life  and  service  and  devotion  that  the  early  disciples 
had  to  the  principles  of  the  kingdom  in  the  midst 
of  a  wrecked  world  in  which  they  had  to  live  and 
manifest  Christ  among  men.  Such  elements  are  the 
outgrowth  of  a  life  wherein  the  Spirit  dwells  and 


48  MEN  AND  METHODS 

keeps  afresh  the  life  of  Christ.  One  cannot  help 
from  seeing  that  such  elements  were  the  kind  the 
Master  had  when  He  walked  among  men.  They  are 
certainly  the  very  ones  needed  most  in  the  mission 
field  to-day  where  the  original  type  of  Christianity 
is  the  one  that  ought  to  be  ever  manifested  in  seek- 
ing to  win  the  nations  to  the  Father.  Experience 
and  observation  in  the  non-Christian  lands  reveal 
to  us  that  the  Spirit  of  God  must  manifest  these  ele- 
ments in  our  lives  if  we  are  to  have  them  in  abun- 
dance to  meet  the  needs  of  these  benighted  lands,  in 
a  conquering  warfare  for  our  Lord  and  Captain. 

There  are  many  things  to  prevent  the  development 
of  the  spiritual  life  in  the  missionary.  His  very  zeal 
for  the  work  and  feverish  haste  to  do  something 
worth  while  may  be  the  chief  occasion  of  failure 
where  spiritual  results  are  the  greatest  needs  of 
these  fields.  Too  much  machinery,  too  many  conflict- 
ing plans,  too  busy  about  the  work,  too  anxious  about 
our  own  efforts — these  concomitants  destroy  the 
poise  of  heart  and  waiting  upon  the  Lord  that  are 
necessary  to  obtain  His  fullness  of  power  needed  for 
spiritual  leadership.  Any  effort  wisely  organized 
and  zealously  prosecuted,  any  mode  of  procedure 
adjusted  to  conditions  will  prove  a  failure  if  they 
prevent  our  spiritual  life  being  radiant  with  the 
Lord's  presence  and  power.  The  very  lack  of  ade- 
quate workers  and  the  pressing  needs  of  the  hour 
may  hinder  the  missionary  in  obtaining  the  spiritual 
equipment  which  is  the  basis  of  all  successful  labours. 


THE  SPIBITUAL  EEQUIREMENTS        49 

I  mean  by  spiritual  life  that  which  reveals  Jesus, 
**puts  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  makes  no  pro- 
vision for  the  flesh/'  manifesting  that  divine  life 
hidden  in  Christ,  yet  daily  seen  living  the  realities 
of  the  kingdom  as  the  Master  did  in  meeting  the 
needs  of  the  human  family.  To  do  the  highest  serv- 
ice not  only  our  wills,  but  our  bodies  and  all,  must 
be  made  ''conformable  to  His  will,"  and  then  our 
lives  transformed  in  golden  deeds  suited  to  the  prac- 
tical needs  of  the  people  among  whom  we  live,  blend- 
ing all  our  powei^  in  that  all-rounded  soldier  which 
our  Lord's  work  demands;  not  fanatical  or  unnat- 
ural, but  Christlike  in  blessed  service.  Such  spiri- 
tual lives  are  the  need  and  hope  of  any  field. 

The  physical,  intellectual,  and  spiritual  are  so 
completely  interdependent  that  we  cannot  neglect 
the  one  without  harming  all  others.  In  reading  the 
letters  from  the  great  mission  heroes  of  the  Orient 
this  resultant  was  intimated  many  times  though 
they  were  discussing  primarily  the  physical.  Dr. 
Hawks  Pott  expressly  said  that  the  physical  greatly 
affects  the  mental  and  spiritual.  Dr.  Newton,  of 
Japan,  said  we  must  look  to  the  Father  for  both 
spiritual  and  physical  blessings.  Mr.  D.  E.  Hoste 
has  these  words  bearing  on  the  subject,  following 
his  emphasis  on  the  physical,  **A  clear,  personal 
faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Son  of  God  and 
personal  Redeemer,  a  belief  in  the  Divine  authority 
of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  the  habit  of  their  daily 
devotional  study,  a  practical  recognition  of  the  need 


50  MEN  AND  METHODS 

of  prayer  and  intercession  as  essential  both  to  per- 
sonal living  and  to  the  real  effectiveness  of  service, 
are,  in  my  solemn  conviction,  fundamental  to  effi- 
ciency as  a  Christian  missionary.  If  a  man  has  not 
a  personal  experience  of  Christ  in  his  life  and  a 
clear-cut  message  to  give  from  God,  then  he  had  bet- 
ter stay  at  home."  Drs.  Corbett  and  Fitch  have 
words  bearing  on  the  connection  between  the  physi- 
cal and  spiritual. 

A  rather  careful  examination  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment relative  to  the  qualification  of  successful  dis- 
cipleship  discloses  the  following  matters  to  be  impor- 
tant and  should  be  found  in  every  successful  mis- 
sionary : 

1.  The  missionary  should  be  a  joyful  Christian — 
**  love,  joy,  and  peace  ''  ought  to  abound  in  his  life 
be  his  condition  or  work  whatever  it  may  be.  It  was 
said  of  Christ  Jesus  because  He  '4oved  righteousness 
and  hated  iniquity,  therefore  God,  thy  God,  hath 
anointed  thee  with  the  oil  of  gladness  above  thy 
fellows."  We  are  His  ambassadors,  hence  should 
represent  His  life.  Not  only  is  this  true,  but  our 
physical  prowess  depends  on  our  living  the  joyful 
life.  The  only  physician  I  have  quoted  is  Dr. 
Hume,  and  it  is  rather  significant  that  he  should 
show  the  importance  of  the  relation  between  the 
physical  and  spiritual.  In  The  Manual  for  Young 
Missionaries,  pp.  1  and  7,  we  have  these  wise  words : 
'*  First  of  all  then,  new  arrivals,  come  to  China  pre- 
pared to  be  happy.    The  surest  way  to  undermine 


THE  SPIEITUAL  REQUIEEMENTS        51 

health  in  China  is  to  approach  your  work  in  a  spirit 
of  complaining  criticism;  and,  conversely,  none  re- 
main so  continuously  well  and  bring  so  much  energy 
to  their  work,  as  those  who  come  with  a  smila  Of 
course,  there  will  be  lots  of  hard  things  to  bear  and 
to  overcome,  any  amount  of  vexing  delays;  but  be 
glad  that  everything  is  not  as  smooth  running  and  as 
promptly  done  as  at  home.  Do  not  criticize  the 
older  workers,  and  find  fault  v^ith  your  food  and  ac- 
commodation. There  would  not  be  much  to  reform 
if  all  had  been  perfect  before  you  arrived. 

**If,  as  President  H.  C.  King  has  said,  the  will  is 
the  central  part  of  emphasis  in  the  fight  for  charac- 
ter, then  the  missionary  in  China  should  use  his  will 
to  lead  him  to  live  the  optimistic  life.  While  some 
live  it  more  naturally,  it  can  undoubtedly  be  culti- 
vated. In  a  recent  issue  of  the  China  Medical 
Journal  (September,  1917)  the  editor  refers  to  'ac- 
cidie or  akedia,a,  peculiar  malady  which  lessens  men's 
power  of  service  and  makes  them  uncongenial  com- 
panions'— not  a  new  nervous  disorder,  ascribable  to 
the  modern  rushing  mode  of  life,  but  a  complaint 
born  of  mono-intro-inspection,  and  cured  only  when 
spiritual  treatment  is  used  along  with  the  physical. 
Accidie  and  kindred  maladies  can  be  warded  off  by 
those  who  persistently  live  the  *glad'  life  like  Polly- 
anna;  who  see  that  good  is  stronger  than  evil;  and 
that  physical  as  well  as  moral  victory  comes  to  him 
who  can  live  the  positively  cheerful  life.  For  opti- 
mism is  more  than  a  roseate  view ;  it  is  the  will  and 


52  MEN  AND  METHODS 

the  act  of  conquering  the  depressing  elements  in  our 
journey  and  uplifting  the  disheartened  whom  we 
meet  along  the  way. ' ' 

If  the  soldier  of  the  expanding  kingdom  could 
realize  that  worry  is  waste,  as  Dr.  John  Clifford 
says,  and  that  it  is  as  wrong  to  fret  as  to  swear,  as 
John  Wesley  used  to  say,  and  that  every  missionary 
is  expected  to  be  *' filled  with  oil  of  gladness  above 
his  fellows,"  then  through  the  power  of  the  Spirit 
we  would  conquer  our  wills  and  determine  at  all 
times  and  under  all  conditions  to  ''rejoice  always  and 
again  I  say  rejoice.''  Surely  the  Master  expects  us 
to  conquer  ourselves  absolutely  through  His  help  for 
the  work  of  the  kingdom.  The  Holy  Spirit  enables 
us  to  do  this  so  our  lives  will  count  for  the  most. 
We  certainly  have  our  part  to  do.  We  must,  as  a 
positive  Christian  duty,  live  the  joyful  life.  To  fail 
we  are  sinning  against  our  Lord,  then  weakening  our 
powers  for  His  work,  and  recreant  to  duty  where  the 
noblest  life  is  both  possible  and  necessary. 

2.  Patient  forbearance  and  fidelity  to  duty  re- 
gardless of  conditions,  the  appeals  of  men,  or  of  the 
world.  This  element,  too,  is  due  to  the  power  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  The  soldier  of  Christ  has  made  real 
progress  when  he  realizes  that  the  ''faithfulness" 
and  "goodness"  mentioned  in  the  New  Testament 
are  concrete  acts  in  the  battles  of  the  kingdom  rather 
than  abstract  ideas.  However,  these  acts  are  the  out- 
growth of  eternal  realities  and  sublime  truths  that 
never  yield  to  varying  days,  and  are  ever  ready  to 


THE  SPIRITUAL  EEQUIEEMENTS        53 

adjust  themselves  to  the  conflict  as  the  strategy  of 
the  battle  requires.  True  spiritual  life  makes  this 
possible. 

3.  Yielding  all  talents  to  the  Master.  These  ele- 
ments of  success  emphasized  by  the  writers  of  the 
New  Testament  are  the  basis  of  success  in  all  fields. 
We  should  be  much  concerned  that  these  appear  and 
abound.  The  mere  fact  of  our  going  to  the  foreign 
fields  will  not  assure  this.  We  should  give  all  our 
talents  definitely  to  Him  that  His  life  and  power 
may  appear.  This  is  our  chief  daily  duty  in  all 
fields.  "When  this  is  done,  all  our  preparation  and 
abilities — body,  mind,  and  heart — will  be  blended  so 
as  to  bring  about  the  largest  results. 

4.  Definite  plans  and  these  carried  out  ''in  all 
diligence"  is  an  element  of  real  success  in  the  spir- 
itual life.  We  too  often  think  that  the  spiritual  life 
is  not  bound  up  with  well-worked-out  plans  adhered 
to  and  executed  faithfully  day  by  day.  No  spiritual 
life  is  possible  in  the  most  efficient  service  without 
this.  Paul  and  Peter  both  emphasized  this  in  a 
forceful  way.  The  **one  thing"  and  with  all  ''dili- 
gence" point  plainly  to  this  method  of  labour  in  the 
lives  of  these  two  great  Christian  leaders  in  the 
Apostolic  era.  In  the  mission  field  there  are  many 
things  fighting  against  our  time  and  hindering  us  in 
definite  plans  rigorously  adhered  to,  but  the  most 
efficient  soldier  will  stick  to  his  plan  of  conquest, 
make  this  his  chief  duty  from  the  day  he  reaches  the 
field  until  he  has  ended  his  labours.    A  review  of 


64  MEN  AND  METHODS 

the  lives  of  men  who  have  valiantly  counted  in  the 
mission  fields  in  spiritual  things  have  had  their  time 
for  each  daily  task  and  have  driven  steadily  along 
the  path  of  duty  and  success  with  a  regularity  like 
the  passing  days. 

I  shall  not  seek  to  lay  down  rules  or  call  your  at- 
tention to  the  habits  of  our  men  of  greatest  power 
in  the  mission  fields.  I  simply  insist  that  these  men 
had  them  and  the  success  of  their  labours  in  spiritual 
things  was  determined  by  their  definite  plans  as  the 
chief  daily  routine.  Definite  time  for  prayer  and 
devotional  reading  of  God's  precious  Word,  quiet 
periods  for  hearing  His  voice  as  to  each  duty,  daily 
contact  with  Him  for  power  and  wisdom  to  meet  the 
complex  work  of  the  various  fields  and  problems  are 
prerequisites  to  the  highest  success.  Just  how  this  is 
to  be  done  best  must  be  left  to  the  individual,  but  it 
must  be  done  to  assure  needed  spiritual  results  in 
the  missionary  work. 

5.  The  need  for  hard  work.  There  is  a  tend- 
ency to  consider  hard  work  as  unnecessary  in  the 
spiritual  life.  All  power  is  from  above,  and  we 
need  to  stand  still  and  let  the  spiritual  power  flow 
through  us  to  others.  My  idea  of  spiritual  life  is 
far  from  this.  I  am  reminded  of  my  experience  in 
Jerusalem  years  ago.  A  Catholic  lady  and  her 
daughter  joined  our  party  at  Port  Said.  We 
reached  the  ''Holy  City,''  and  this  Catholic  lady 
went  to  a  nunnery  for  headquarters.  She  had  a  sis- 
ter in  Scotland,  who  was  a  member  of  this  order,  and 


THE  SPIEITUAL  EEQUIEEMENTS        55 

had  advised  her  to  spend  her  time  there  while  seeing 
Palestine.  After  she  was  in  the  nunnery  for  a  while 
she  came  to  our  hotel,  and  said  that  she  was  almost 
in  prison.  The  *' sisters"  prayed  nearly  all  day,  and 
while  prayers  were  on,  she  must  not  move  nor  make 
any  fuss.  She  pertinently  remarked,  ''I  think  if 
they  would  pray  less  and  work  more,  they  would  ac- 
complish more.''  Our  Lord  spent  much  time  in 
prayer;  the  average  missionary  spends  entirely  too 
little;  but  prayer,  devotional  reading  of  the  Bible, 
waiting  before  the  Lord  will  be  of  no  avail  unless  we 
have  done  these  things  in  order  that  we  may  work 
more  faithfully  and  continuously  as  a  "  good  soldier 
of  Christ.''  Jesus  worked  from  early  morning  till 
late  at  night,  surprising  His  disciples  and  His  own 
family  with  His  determination,  regardless  of  the  con- 
dition, *'to  work  while  it  is  day,"  seeing  ever  the 
shadows  approaching  when  He  could  not  labour. 
He  had  His  habits,  doing  this  according  to  His  cus- 
tom, counting  the  fast-flying  minutes  precious  in 
their  relation  to  the  eternal  verities  of  the  kingdom. 
Missionaries  do  not  work  too  much.  This  machine 
of  ours  is  capable  of  much  labour  if  properly  ad- 
justed to  the  source  of  all  power  and  the  environ- 
ments in  which  we  live.  We  may  neglect  the  laws  of 
health,  eat  things  that  do  not  suit  the  requirements 
of  the  body,  manifest  a  wrong  spirit  as  we  labour, 
keep  our  minds  on  the  unwholesome,  fail  to  appro- 
priate the  power  and  radiancy  of  the  Master's  life, 
and  thus  fail.    We  may  upset  the  order  and  poise  of 


56  MEN  AND  METHODS 

nature,  and  this  will  be  a  cause  of  failure  and  cred- 
ited to  labour  as  the  source  of  failure  or  breakdown ; 
but,  as  a  rule,  it  is  not  the  work  that  brings  the 
breakdown,  but  the  spirit  or  attitude  of  the  worker. 
System,  right  relation  to  the  source  of  all  power, 
proper  attention  to  the  laws  of  health,  constancy  in 
the  pursuit  of  duty  will  fill  the  days  with  endless 
forces.  Labour  does  not  injure,  but  brings  the 
greatest  blessing  to  the  labourer  as  well  as  others 
when  rightly  done. 

6.  A  well  developed  sense  of  humour.  This 
may  not  always  be  the  gift  of  the  Spirit,  but  it  is  so 
closely  bound  up  with  the  other  gifts  of  the  Spirit, 
we  cannot  separate  it  from  these  others.  Humour 
in  the  deadening  fields  of  heathenism  is  almost  an 
essential  part  of  the  well-round  man  that  I  feel  it  is 
a  gift  of  the  Spirit.  It  is  a  real  blessing  to  be  able 
to  see  the  comical  where  there  is  so  much  to  depress, 
and  see  the  variegated  blossoming  lily  rising  out  of 
the  scum  of  the  filthy  pond,  detect  the  sparkling 
sands  of  gold  in  the  crude  stones,  behold  the  shining 
stars  as  the  rift  appears  in  the  lowering  clouds,  per- 
ceive the  beauties  of  nature  where  *'only  man  is 
vile,"  and  realize  God  is  present  everywhere  if  our 
hearts  are  prisms  that  can  appropriate  and  reflect 
the  divine  life  wherever  we  are.  Our  life  and  la- 
bours will  be  very  different  if  we  are  willing  to  do 
this. 

One  of  the  oldest,  most  active  of  missionaries  now 
living  in  South  China  had  this  experience  in  his 


THE  SPIRITUAL  EEQUIREMENTS        57 

early  days:  the  Chinese  came  and  looted  the  home 
and  took  practically  everything  they  had.  The  in- 
mates barely  escaped  with  their  lives,  but  they  were 
truly  thankful  that  they  had  escaped  at  all.  As 
they  went  down  the  river  to  Canton,  night  came  and 
the  mosquitoes  were  bad;  and  they  soon  saw  that 
they  had  escaped  from  the  Chinese  bandits  and  had 
run  into  the  hands  of  the  enemies  of  the  body  which 
were  seeking  to  inject  the  poison  of  malaria  into 
their  blood.  What  could  this  large  family  do  ?  They 
found  that  the  bandits  had  left  a  little  mosquito 
netting  that  was  on  the  baby's  cradle.  They  made 
their  beds  down  on  the  floor  of  the  crude  boat,  so 
arranged  things  that  their  heads  would  all  come  to 
a  point  near  its  center,  then  took  the  baby's  mos- 
quito netting  and  covered  all  their  heads,  with  the 
bedding  they  covered  their  bodies,  and  there  slept 
safely  from  the  dangers  of  the  mosquito.  One  of  the 
party  told  me  many  years  afterwards  about  the  inci- 
dent, and  how  they  all  laughed  and  enjoyed  their 
rare  experience  of  meeting  the  needs  of  the  evening. 
With  such  missionaries  the  spirit  of  morbidness  and 
fretfulness  will  have  no  place.  They  will  conquer 
the  petty  difficulties  that  usually  are  harassing. 

Last  year  I  was  returning  to  the  United  States 
with  a  secretary  of  one  of  the  leading  mission  boards. 
He  told  me  that  two  of  his  most  valuable  workers 
were  brothers,  doctors  who  were  living  in  the  interior 
of  China.  These  doctors  were  musical,  full  of  fun, 
saw  the  comical  in  life,  kept  up  the  good  feelings  of 


68  MEN  AND  METHODS 

many  by  their  sports  and  humour  and  added  courage 
and  hopefulness  to  many  drooping  spirits.  Doctors 
have  learned  in  these  fields  that  a  **  cheerful  spirit 
doeth  good  like  (more  than)  a  medicine/'  and  it  is 
their  business  to  keep  the  eyes  of  the  soul  on  the 
noble  and  beautiful  rather  than  on  the  serious  and 
vile.  These  doctors  always  advise  us  to  have  hob- 
bies,— ^not  that  hobbies  in  themselves  are  worth 
much,  but  they  break  the  routine  and  deadening  pull 
of  the  commonplace,  that  is  drawing  us  too  much 
into  the  *' Slough  of  Despond." 

These  suggestions  may  seem  too  trivial  and  simple 
to  the  volunteer  and  young  missionary  to  be  taken 
seriously ;  but  I  desire  to  assure  any  one  that  his  re- 
lation to  these  simple  principles  will  determine  with 
great  certainty  his  life-work  in  the  non-Christian 
lands.  We  are  in  danger  of  passing  over  these  com- 
mon principles  of  God's  Word  and  the  experience  of 
His  successful  labourers,  and  in  the  end  to  make  a 
very  small  contribution  to  winning  these  lands  to  our 
Saviour.  He  who  would  make  the  greatest  contri- 
bution to  the  needy  millions  without  our  Saviour 
ought  to  begin  now  the  learning  and  observance  of 
these  simple  principles  of  how  to  live  long  and  labour 
well  in  the  lands  needing  our  best  endeavour.  Your 
victory  at  Waterloo  is  determined  beyond  all  doubt 
by  the  way  you  spend  your  days  at  Eton.  J.  Camp- 
bell Morgan,  in  ''The  Hidden  Years  at  Nazareth," 
tells  us  that  the  Master  never  would  have  won  His 
victory  in  the  wilderness  and  finally  at  the  Cross  if 


THE  SPIEITUAL  EEQUIREMENTS        59 

He  had  not  lived  according  to  the  Father's  will  in 
the  quiet  days  of  childhood  at  Nazareth. 

You  may  now  know  what  others  had  to  learn  by 
costly  years  of  experience.  The  conditions  can  be 
ascertained  and  likemse  how  to  live  best  and  longest 
in  meeting  the  needs  to  the  glory  of  the  Father.  It 
is  within  your  power  to  begin  well  and  fill  all  the 
future  years  with  the  more  noble,  living  according  to 
the  demands  of  the  age  for  the  most  efficient  work- 
man in  the  Lord's  kingdom.  If  you  will  so  live,  a 
new  era  for  the  Kingdom  of  God  the  world  over  will 
dawn  and  the  great  untouched  sections  of  this  earth 
will  hear  the  glad  tidings;  and  flowers  of  His  own 
making  will  spring  up  everywhere  in  the  arid  lands 
so  long  blasted  by  sin. 


ENTERING    THE    FIELD    OF    ONE'S    LIFE. 
WORK— THE  ADJUSTMENT 

ALL  that  has  been  said  in  the  previous  chap- 
ters is  preparatory  to  the  missionary's  life- 
work.  He  is  now  ready  to  begin  the  work 
of  winning  the  non-Christian  nations  to  our  Saviour. 
He  reaches  the  field,  begins  the  study  of  the  language 
and  the  people  so  he  can  reveal  Christ  to  those  who 
know  Him  not.  We  expect  the  new  arrival  to  spend 
two  years  principally  in  language  study  and  learn- 
ing the  people  that  he  can  make  '^ contact''  in  such 
a  way  that  will  enable  him  to  adapt  his  message  to 
their  needs  and  conditions.  During  these  two  years, 
he  may  be  able  to  do  some  teaching  and  other  kinds 
of  mission  work,  but  most  of  his  time  will  be  given 
to  knowing  the  people,  their  language,  and  their 
needs.  After  the  first  two  years,  he  still  will  need  to 
study  the  language  and  the  people — this  should  go 
on  as  long  as  one  is  on  the  field — ^but  the  main  em- 
phasis after  the  first  few  years  will  be  on  meeting  the 
needs  of  the  people  rather  than  preparing  to  do  the 
work.  These  first  few  years  of  preparation  on  the 
field  will  determine  to  a  great  degree  all  the  future 
days  in  the  work.    Inasmuch  as  they  are  fraught 

60 


THE  ADJUSTMENT  61 

with,  endless  possibilities  and  responsibilities,  one 
must  look  well  to  these  first  years  in  the  mission 
fields. 

The  missionary  ought  to  know  that  this  adjust- 
ment is  not  an  easy  task.  Some  never  make  the 
proper  adjustment.  They  try  to  reproduce  Western 
life  and  methods  and  force  the  Chinese  or  other  peo- 
ple to  pass  through  their  moulds.  This  is  fatal  to  real 
success.  It  is  absolutely  necessary  to  learn  the  peo- 
ple as  they  are  and  adjust  one's  life  and  message  to 
their  needs.  The  other  day  I  noticed  a  farewell 
luncheon  was  given  to  a  Japanese  (an  Oriental)  at 
Dallas,  Texas.  He  had  made  fine  success  as  a  busi- 
ness man  and  mixer  with  the  American  people.  The 
Rotary  Club  gave  him  a  splendid  send-off.  It  was  a 
happy  occasion  and  augurs  much  for  the  pleasant 
relations  that  ought  to  exist  between  the  Occident 
and  Orient.  In  his  speech  this  Japanese  said  he  was 
going  back  to  his  native  country  to  try  to  bring  about 
a  better  relation  between  his  people  and  us.  Hear 
his  words :  ' '  I  hope  I  can  fulfill  this  mission,  but  it 
is  a  bigger  one  than  you  think.  It  required  years  of 
contact  for  me  to  understand  and  appreciate  Ameri- 
can traits.  A  thorough  understanding  between  the 
peoples  of  the  two  countries  means  much  for  the 
cause  of  humanity  and  civilization."  All  students 
of  the  human  family  the  world  over  know  that  one 
cannot  be  any  help  to  another  people  until  one  knows 
these  people  and  is  willing  to  adjust  one's  message 
and  life  to  meet  their  needs.    The  soldier  of  Jesus 


62  MEN  AND  METHODS 

Christ,  who  will  not  do  this  and  do  it  well,  is  unfit  to 
represent  the  Saviour  in  any  mission  field,  and  is 
doomed  to  failure.  We  cannot  learn  this  from  afar 
or  from  those  who  hastily  pass  through  the  country 
and  write  their  findings.  All  such  writings  are  apt 
to  hinder  a  true  knowledge  of  the  people  and  how  we 
can  meet  their  needs.  If  we  are  to  lift  these  people 
out  of  the  slavery  of  moribund  customs  and  traditions 
to  the  twilight  of  God's  new  day  for  them,  we  must 
know  them  and  adjust  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  so 
that  they  can  understand  it  meets  their  needs. 

The  missionary  goes  to  these  non-Christian  lands 
not  to  destroy  their  moral  ideals  and  customs  except 
as  these  are  opposed  to  the  teachings  of  our  Saviour. 
Christ  came  not  to  destroy  the  law  and  the  prophets, 
as  His  enemies  constantly  affirmed  and  feared,  but  to 
fulfill  and  purify  all  that  was  good  in  the  past  and 
graft  it  to  the  new  day  He  came  to  inaugurate.  Mis- 
sion folk  must  not  propagate  Western  customs  and 
traditions.  These  have  had  their  day,  but  they  have 
no  place,  as  such,  in  the  great  mission  fields.  Too 
many  of  our  Western  forms  even  of  church  life  and 
customs  have  the  colouring  of  the  local  civil  and 
political  life  of  the  nations  in  which  they  arose  and 
developed  with  the  march  of  national  events.  These 
may  be  a  real  barrier  to  progress  in  establishing  the 
Kingdom  of  God  in  the  hearts  of  the  natives  of  any 
country.  Our  Saviour  taught  us  a  wise  lesson  by 
staying  free  from  customs,  some  of  which  were  really 
harmful,  but  He  was  willing  to  adjust  His  life  and 


THE  ADJUSTMENT  63 

message  to  the  needs  of  the  people,  and  leave  these 
harmful  customs  to  disappear  with  the  advance  of 
truth. 

So  much  is  involved  in  this  phase  of  our  work — 
the  adjustment  of  life  and  message  to  meet  the  con- 
ditions and  needs  of  the  people,  I  feel  it  worth  while 
to  quote  rather  at  length  from  an  English  officer  who 
has  had  much  experience  in  handling  things  Chinese. 
This  officer  has  held  many  important  positions  for 
his  government  in  the  consular  service  in  China. 
His  last  position  was  that  of  managing  the  coolie 
service  for  the  Allies  in  Europe,  sending  many  thou- 
sands of  Chinese  coolies  to  help  win  the  war.  At 
one  time  he  acted  as  magistrate  wherein  he  had  to 
pass  on  all  local  questions  among  the  Chinese  at 
Weihaiwei.  He  knows  Chinese  individually  and  col- 
lectively as  few  men.  It  was  my  great  pleasure  to 
travel  with  him  for  a  full  day  in  Shantung  Prov- 
ince. He  showed  much  concern  about  this  phase  of 
the  work.  I  will  give  a  few  paragraphs  from  a  long 
letter  he  afterwards  wrote  me  bearing  on  ancestral 
worship  and  other  things  Chinese.  **  Reject  firmly 
all  anti-Christian  excrescences  of  a  purely  religious 
nature,  but  retain  and  engraft  those  which  per  se  are 
good,  and  which  are  capable  of  embodiment  in  a 
modified  form  in  the  body  of  Christian  doctrine. 
E.  g.,  let  Christian  festivals  coincide  with  Chinese, 
let  the  Chinese  Ch'ing  Ming  festival  coincide  with 
Easter  and  sweep  the  graves  and  decorate  them  in  a 
Christian  manner.    Why  force  the  arbitrary  Catho- 


64  MEN  AND  METHODS 

lie  ecclesiastical  chronology  on  the  Chinese?  It  is 
not  an  essential  part  of  Christianity. 

''The  Chinese  Church  must  be  for  the  Chinese 
Race.  You  may  as  well  give  up  if  you  mean  to  en- 
graft Western  social  machinery  on  the  Chinese  with- 
out modification.  That  is  not  Christian,  yet  it  is 
what  many  seem  to  be  attempting.  The  struggle  is 
in  the  realm  of  ideas  and  ideals,  not  in  material  acts. 
They  will  follow.  Personal  honesty  and  independent 
moral  stamina  are  what  is  chiefly  wanted  in  China. 

''The  story  is  told  of  an  ancient  Chinese  sage, 
revered  still  for  his  personal  honesty,  that  he  re- 
ceived an  urgent  call  to  work  as  an  official.  Calling 
his  friends  before  him  he  entertained  them  at  a 
feast,  and  loading  them  with  presents,  bade  them  a 
last  farewell,  then  devoted  himself  exclusively  to  the 
service  of  the  State.  Few  Chinese  have  the  strength 
of  mind  to  do  so.  It  is  very  sad  but  true  that  the 
family  principle  has  been  developed  to  the  destruc- 
tion of  personal  independence. 

"At  present  the  Chinese  are  unconscious  of  the 
complexity  of  the  problem  of  national  regeneration, 
it  seems  to  me — so  are  nearly  all  foreigners.  The 
tendency  is  to  seek  salvation  by  short  cuts :  Western 
education,  militarism,  political  reform,  materialism 
in  all  its  shapes,  especially  as  it  is  interpreted  by 
Japan.  The  trouble  is,  however,  deep-rooted  and 
can  be  dealt  with  by  nothing  less  than  moral  regen- 
eration. 

*'A  council  of  Christian  churchmen  and  laymen, 


THE  ADJUSTMENT  65 

Chinese  and  foreigners,  ought  to  study  the  problem. 
The  only  solution  I  see  is  wisely  applied  Christian 
principles.  I  believe  it  can  be  done,  but  there  must 
be  no  cant." — G.  S.  Moss,  H.  B.  M.  Consular  Service. 

We  may  not  accept  all  this  official  says,  but  much 
is  certainly  to  the  point  as  the  task  confronts  us  to- 
day. It  is  certainly  not  an  easy  one  of  small  signifi- 
cance concerning  our  method  of  labouring  to  present 
Christianity  in  the  most  effective  way.  The  Chinese 
people  are  no  exception.  All  non-Christian  lands 
present  very  much  the  same  situation.  All  real 
friends  and  students  of  these  people,  whether  they 
be  missionaries  or  statesmen,  see  the  problems  much 
the  same  way.  One  of  the  best-knowai  Christian 
workers  in  China  is  Mr.  D.  E.  Hoste,  Chinese  Di- 
rector of  the  China  Inland  Mission.  He  gives  the  fol- 
lowing wise  words:  ''It  is  very  important  that  the 
young  missionary  should  at  all  cost  spend  lots  of  his 
time  out  amongst  the  people.  In  no  other  way  will 
he  gain  that  intelligent  sympathetic  acquaintance 
with  their  life,  their  customs,  their  point  of  view, 
and  the  correct  use  of  their  language.  This  calls  for 
no  little  self-denial,  both  in  exposing  oneself  to  un- 
pleasant and  even  repulsive  surroundings,  and  also 
in  cutting  oneself  off  from  much  that  is  attractive, 
and,  apart  from  these  special  considerations,  desir- 
able. 

'*It  is  my  settled  conviction  that  no  man  will  make 
much  mark  in  any  department  of  missionary  activ- 
ity, whether  evangelistic,  pastoral,  educational  or 


66  MEN  AND  METHODS 

medical,  except  by  the  above  means,  patiently  and 
perseveringly  followed,  gaining  the  knowledge  of  the 
people  and  their  ways  already  referred  to.  Without 
this  knowledge — and  it  is  the  most  difficult  to  ac- 
quire of  any—the  other  training  and  equipment  will 
be  largely  ineffective.  The  history  of  missions  in 
China  affords  notable  instances  of  the  truth  of  the 
foregoing.  Dr.  Timothy  Richards,  for  instance, 
only  gained  the  insight  and  knowledge,  which  won 
for  himself  a  unique  place  in  the  confidence  and  re- 
gard of  certain  important  sections  of  the  Chinese 
community,  by  spending  years  living  amongst  the 
people  themselves.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  he  wore  the 
Chinese  dress  and  mingled  with  the  Chinese  in  their 
social  life  for  many  years.  Similarly  Dr.  Hawks 
Pott,  the  Founder  and  President  of  St.  John's 
University,  served  an  apprenticeship,  wearing  Chi- 
nese clothes  and  mingling  with  the  people.  Dr.  Gil- 
bert Re'd,  who  made  his  mark  in  another  sphere,  did 
the  same  thing  for  many  years.  It  takes  a  good 
deal  to  overcome  the  provincial  attitude  of  the  aver- 
age Westerner,  which  takes  for  granted  that  the 
West  has  everything  to  impart  and  nothing  to  learn 
from  the  East.  Again,  sharing  people's  lives  and 
experience  will  strengthen  the  sympathy  better  than 
anything  else.  In  view  of  some  whose  judgment  is 
entitled  to  much  weight,  one  of  the  most  serious 
weaknesses  of  present-day  missionary  effort  is  a  fail- 
ure practically  to  recognize  the  importance  of  these 
points  and  a  willingness  to  pay  the  price,  without 
which  the  knowledge  in  question  can  never  be 
gained.    The  study  of  books  about  Chinese  histories, 


THE  ADJUSTMENT  67 

philosophies,  religions,  customs,  etc.,  are  valuable; 
but  they  will  only  be  properly  assimilated  by  the 
man  who  mixes  with  the  people/' 

Many  a  field  has  suffered  untold  wreckage  because 
the  missionary  did  not  fii^  take  the  time  necessary 
to  leam  the  people  before  he  plunged  into  the  battle, 
striking  here  and  there  in  a  mad  way,  creating 
prejudices  and  wounding  the  sense  of  honour  and 
respect  which  ever  crippled  his  work  with  the  na- 
tives for  his  entire  mission  career.  These  natives 
will  judge  our  message  by  the  way  we  treat  them 
and  their  sacred  ideals  bearing  on  the  customs  and 
religious  life  of  their  people,  the  most  holy  ideals 
they  have  and  that  which  have  done  most  to  make 
their  long  history.  It  is  not  our  business  to  hold 
ourselves  superior  to  these  people  and  seek  to  reflect 
on  their  weaknesses.  We  have  nothing  about  which 
we  can  boast.  We  do  have  some  blessings  in  Christ 
which  they  need,  but  this  should  humble  us,  and 
make  us  willing  to  be  all  things  to  all  men  that  we 
might  present  Christ  in  the  most  effective  way  and 
do  this  in  the  most  sympathetic  manner. 

We  need  wisdom  from  above  to  show  the  right 
spirit  and  walk  humbled  before  men  as  we  do  before 
our  God.  All  our  preparation  at  home  and  in  the 
foreign  fields  will  be  in  vain  if  we  are  not  willing  to 
live  and  labour  in  relation  to  the  people  so  as  to 
make  our  message  tangible  to  them,  gaining  first 
their  confidence  and  respect  and  love,  then  set  forth 
Christ  before  them  so  they  can  understand  Him  as 
their  Brother  who  can  and  will  meet  all  their  needs. 


VT 

LABOURING  WITH  THE  NATIVES 

THE  missionary  from  the  West  goes  to  the 
heathen  lands  with  the  stigma  and  con- 
tempt that  usually  follow  the  name  **for- 
eigner*'  in  any  country.  As  far  as  the  Orient  is 
concerned,  the  missionary  is  to  labour  with  peoples 
who  have  strong  prejudice  against  the  man  from 
the  West  because  they  have  been  mistreated  for  cen- 
turies by  the  men  of  the  Occident. 

When  the  first  Westerners  reached  the  Orient, 
they  were  received  with  the  utmost  kindness  and 
consideration — as  if  the  long  separated  cousins  had 
come  to  see  the  older  members  of  the  family.  His- 
tory shows  in  the  early  contact  that  the  Orientals 
were  universally  kind  to  these  emigrants  from  the 
West.  Chinese  sages  have  taught  the  people  to  be 
kind  to  strangers,  and  the  Oriental  kindness — shown 
to  *'the  strangers  within  the  gates"  has  been  mani- 
fested in  China.  The  Jews  reached  China  in  the 
early  Christian  era  and  were  given  permanent  homes 
in  Honan  Province  in  one  of  the  richest  sections  of 
the  country.  The  Nestorians  arrived  in  the  fifth  or 
sixth  century,  and  were  received  with  great  honour 

68 


LABOUEING  WITH  THE  NATIVES       69 

at  the  Emperor's  court  and  permitted  to  remain  as 
great  teachers  from  the  West.  The  Italian  traveller, 
Marco  Polo,  was  given  unusnal  confidence  and  hon- 
our. He  arrived  and  lived  in  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury. He  was  made  an  official,  a  kind  of  consul- 
general-at-large  to  inspect  the  provincial  officials  for 
the  royal  house.  He  was  true  to  his  trust.  Even 
to-day  he  is  held  in  blessed  memory  by  the  Chinese. 
In  Canton  you  can  see  an  idol  of  Marco  Polo  wor- 
shipped still  by  the  Chinese.  Also  there  is  a  temple 
erected  in  his  honour  near  this  city. 

The  Catholics  reached  China  hundreds  of  years 
before  any  Protestant  did.  They  were  received  and 
given  positions  of  trust  for  their  learning.  They 
made  great  headway  at  first,  but  failing  to  make  the 
proper  adjustment,  seeking  to  transplant  Western 
religious  rule  to  China,  they  lost  the  good-will  of  the 
ruling  class,  persecution  followed  in  which  the 
priests  were  driven  from  the  country  and  the  con- 
verts suffered  martyrdom  if  they  did  not  recant. 
After  the  Catholics  came  the  traders  who  had  as 
their  purpose  exploitation  of  the  country.  One  has 
said  for  every  dollar  they  put  in  China  they  expected 
to  get  ninety-nine  in  return,  and  were  more  con- 
cerned about  the  return  than  they  were  the  methods 
that  they  used.  The  natives  were  nothing  more 
than  commercial  assets.  By  reason  of  the  early  re- 
ligious men  from  the  West,  who  failed  to  reveal  the 
spirit  of  Christ  or  His  full  message  and  the  cruel  and 
wicked  traders,  the  Chinese  and  Japanese  lost  confi- 


70  MEN  AND  METHODS 

denee  in  their  far-away  brothers,  and  it  has  never 
been  fully  restored.  Even  to-day  the  evil  forces  of 
the  West  are  seeking  to  prey  on  the  people  of  the 
East,  and  are  often  putting  far  more  money  and 
men  in  their  enterprise  than  we  Christians,  and  still 
blinding  the  masses  against  the  objects  of  the  mis- 
sionary. 

Some  missionaries  along  with  practically  all 
traders  seem  to  think  we  are  superior  to  the  natives 
and  do  our  part  to  reveal  this  attitude  of  mind.  A 
missionary  who  will  do  this  is  a  lasting  barrier  to 
progress  and  an  enemy  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Christ 
Jesus.  The  Master  said  that  the  men  of  the  world 
would  do  this,  but  be  it  far  from  His  children.  Such 
a  spirit  may  not  be  openly  resented  by  the  natives — 
they  are  too  courteous  to  do  this,  but  they  will  be 
like  adamant  to  the  missionary  as  he  seeks  to  tell 
them  about  the  world's  Saviour  who  was  the  ''meek 
and  lowly,"  one  who  served  even  the  outcasts,  sin- 
ners and  harlots  of  His  day. 

The  natives  cannot  be  fooled.  Unless  the  mission- 
ary is  genuinely  in  sympathy  with  them,  loves  them, 
and  is  willing  to  sacrifice,  they  will  understand  and 
close  their  hearts  against  any  effort.  Unless  we 
show  the  right  spirit  we  will  destroy  all  our  efforts 
to  reveal  Christ  by  word.  The  natives  are  our 
brothers  in  need  without  the  blessings  we  have  re- 
ceived through  the  grace  of  our  Lord.  The  blessings 
which  we  have  received  so  graciously  from  Christ 
are  just  so  many  arguments  for  us  to  live  in  such  a 


LABOUEING  WITH  THE  NATIVES       71 

way  in  our  dealing  with  them  as  to  reveal  Christ — 
never  to  make  us  hold  ourselves  as  superior  to  them, 
and  close  their  eyes  against  the  blessings  which  we 
have  to  give  as  we  have  received. 

Another  danger  must  be  guarded  against  lest  we 
make  the  message  of  Christ  of  no  effect;  namely, 
permitting  our  official  position  or  relation  to  the 
Home  Board  cause  us  to  lord  it  over  God's  heritage. 
We  do  not  go  to  the  foreign  fields  to  rule  the  natives 
by  systems  of  government.  They  often  think  Ave  are 
representatives  of  some  strong  government  and  they 
will  be  inclined  to  trust  this  earthly  power  rather  than 
Christ  Jesus  and  the  power  of  His  revealed  truth — 
which  is  the  basis  of  all  true  Christian  force.  It  is 
an  unwise  policy  to  seek  to  rule  the  natives  by  money 
or  by  official  position  and  thus  weaken  their  initia- 
tive and  produce  a  pauperized  Christianity.  Paul 
was  willing  to  sacrifice  his  liberty  in  Christ  rather 
than  to  offend  one  of  the  weak  ones  for  whom  Christ 
died.  He  wanted  their  faith  to  be  based  on  Christ, 
not  on  men,  not  on  even  himself.  He  knew  the 
weakness  and  failure  of  the  early  Christians,  but 
they  were  *'dear  unto  him"  in  spite  of  this,  and  he 
was  quite  willing  to  leave  them  to  the  Holy  Spirit 
and  the  indwelling  Christ  in  their  development  just 
as  soon  as  he  had  imparted  to  them  the  truth  as  it  is 
in  Christ  Jesus.  With  him  there  were  no  natives 
and  foreigners — they  were  all  one  in  Christ. 

Too  much  machinery  that  is  likely  to  follow  mis- 
sion work  may  become  destructive  to  the  independ- 


72  MEN  AND  METHODS 

ence  and  initiatory  efforts  that  need  to  be  encour- 
aged in  planting  Christianity  in  the  foreign  lands. 
It  is  true  that  the  missionary  has  a  certain  responsi- 
bility for  the  funds  entrusted  to  him  by  the  home 
churches,  and  a  further  responsibility  of  starting  the 
native  right  as  to  doctrine  and  methods  of  work ;  but 
such  responsibility  must  not  be  used  to  cripple  self- 
support  and  aggressiveness  so  as  to  retard  native 
development  because  these  natives  may  speedily  be- 
come an  army  of  conquest  under  the  guidance  of  the 
Lord  of  all  men.  Money  is  a  great  power,  but  if  the 
missionary  does  not  "use  it  wisely,  he  may  hinder 
rather  than  help  in  the  aggressive  warfare.  Unless 
we  are  able  to  develop  the  natives,  commit  to  them 
the  task  of  winning  their  own  people  to  Christ,  the 
work  cannot  be  accomplished.  They  are  the  hope  of 
the  work,  and  the  Lord  can  use  them  as  well  as  us. 
By  nature  they  are  about  as  well  prepared  to  handle 
the  Lord's  work  as  we  are  in  the  West,  and  will  do 
so  just  as  well  when  they  have  the  opportunity  and 
realize  that  the  work  is  theirs  and  not  the  mis- 
sionary's. 

Just  as  soon  as  possible,  we  ought  to  select  ''spir- 
itual minded"  native  men  and  women  who  can  join 
us  in  handling  the  problems  of  mission  work,  of 
money  as  well  as  other  things.  It  may  be  one  of  the 
wonders  as  well  as  the  joys  of  the  work  to  see  how 
quickly  the  Lord  will  develop  these  workers  into  real 
leaders  worthy  of  all  trust  and  power.  They  know 
their  own  people  far  better  than  we  do  and  they 


LABOURING  WITH  THE  NATIVES        73 

know  how  to  get  results  from  them.  As  the  work  is 
handled  by  the  natives,  it  will  not  be  crippled  by  the 
stigma  of  a  * 'foreign  enterprise"  which  the  Chinese 
and  Japanese  resent  with  so  much  antagonism  as  all 
self-respecting  natives  do.  Christ  wants  to  be 
formed  in  them,  and  when  this  is  done,  they  are 
worthy  leaders,  and  will  surprise  us  by  their  sacrifice 
and  love.  We  are  more  or  less  burdened  by  the  cus- 
toms and  traditions  of  our  country,  which  they  ought 
not  to  bear;  hence,  native  initiative  and  control  is 
the  natui-al  and  the  best  way  to  develop  them  and 
to  reach  the  g^reat  untouched  fields  waiting  for 
workers. 

It  is  indeed  painful  to  see  how  some  missionaries 
fail  to  trust  the  natives ;  and  how  they  are  spending 
their  time  trying  to  find  faults  with  these  undevel- 
oped children,  seeking  to  force  these  into  the  moulds 
of  the  West  in  *' faith  and  practice,"  and  '* measur- 
ing themselves  by  themselves,  and  comparing  them- 
selves with  themselves,  are  without  understanding" 
— certainly  in  the  work  of  developing  these  people 
in  the  most  healthful  way.  No  people  are  ever  de- 
veloped anywhere  in  the  world  until  we  have  confi- 
dence in  them  and  throw  responsibility  on  them. 
The  natives  are  far  from  perfect,  also  are  the  for- 
eigners ;  but  they,  like  we,  learn  by  doing  and  assum- 
ing responsibility.  The  greatest  asset  we  have  is  the 
native  Christian  with  his  love,  devotion,  willingness 
to  sacrifice,  toil,  and  witness  for  Christ.  He  will 
not  do  this  until  he  realizes  his  relation  to  Christ  and 


74  MEN  AND  METHODS 

the  problems  of  development,  knowing  that  the  work 
is  his.  This  is  fundamental  and  must  be  encour- 
aged in  every  way  possible.  Jesus  knew  men  as  no 
other  man  on  earth.  He  knew  the  fickleness  of  the 
disciples,  their  lack  of  faith  and  sympathy  for  His 
ideals,  hesitation  in  committing  themselves  to  the 
work  of  the  kingdom  without  reservation,  seeking 
their  own  interest  and  honour,  but  in  spite  of  this, 
He  committed  unto  them  the  destinies  of  His  king- 
dom after  only  a  few  years  of  training.  He  did  not 
depend  on  His  bodily  presence,  but  sent  the  Holy 
Spirit  to  abide  with  all  His  children,  to  reveal  the 
things  of  Christ,  and  guide  them  into  all  truth  and 
life  for  the  highest  service.  The  missionary  is  wise 
who  will  follow  the  Lord's  example  in  this  as  well  as 
in  other  things.    Many  seem  to  fear  His  course. 

Some  maintain  that  Jesus  was  dealing  with  Jews 
who  were  established  in  the  doctrines  of  monotheism 
even  before  they  became  His  disciples ;  but  the  aver- 
age Jew  of  Christ's  earthly  career  had  much  to  un- 
learn, and  it  is  doubtful  if  he  were  any  better  mate- 
rial for  the  Kingdom  of  God  than  the  Oriental. 
However,  Paul  did  not  deal  primarily  with  the  Jew, 
but  with  the  worst  condition  of  the  Gentile  in  no- 
toriously wicked  cities.  These  Gentiles  would  not 
measure  up  with  the  average  Chinese  convert,  al- 
though some  of  them  may  have  some  knowledge  of 
monotheism,  yet  Paul  counted  them  saints  whose 
faults  and  imperfections  would  be  gradually  over- 
come by  the  grace  and  righteousness  of  the  Lord 


LABOUEING  WITH  THE  NATIVES       75 

Jesus  Christ  Who  would  perfect  that  which  He  had 
begun  and  fit  them  for  the  work  of  the  kingdom  here 
and  in  the  heavenly  city.  Those  who  stole  were 
urged  to  do  so  no  more,  remembering  their  high  call- 
ing in  Christ  Jesus.  He  expected  the  life  which 
they  had  in  Christ  Jesus  to  overcome  the  old  man 
and  his  sins,  and  be  found  in  him  ready  for  every 
good  work.  Darkness  disappears  when  the  light 
comes,  evil  is  overcome  by  good,  and  the  best  way  to 
influence  any  man  is  by  the  moral  influence  of  a  life 
wholly  given  to  the  Saviour  and  which  will  always 
reveal  Christ  so  that  as  men  follow,  they  will  be  fol- 
lowing Christ.  In  this  way  we  influence  men  most 
and  bring  about  the  best  results. 

Oh  yes,  there  comes  a  time  to  ''rebuke  with  all 
authority"  and  spare  not,  but  the  missionary  is  not 
likely  to  fail  to  do  enough  of  this.  The  very  en- 
vironment and  the  pull  of  the  heathen  life  will  de- 
velop easily  the  tendency  to  criticize,  see  faults,  and 
rebuke  too  much.  We  need  to  have  all  patience  and 
love  men  as  Paul  taught  us  in  1  Corinthians  13, 
seeking  not  only  to  tell  others  of  Christ,  but  live 
Him,  and  deal  with  the  ''babes"  with  divine  wisdom 
and  forbearance  in  order  that  they  may  know  Him 
and  the  power  of  His  resurrection,  and  ever  share 
with  us  the  holy  ambition  to  be  found  "acceptable  in 
the  Beloved,"  and  then  the  power  that  worketh  in 
us  mightily  (which  alone  will  make  us  sufficient  for 
these  things)  will  do  the  same  for  the  natives.  The 
Lord  is  no  respecter  of  persons. 


76  MEN  AND  METHODS 

In  the  Orient  we  are  constantly  finding  that  the 
Lord  is  leading  the  natives  to  self-support,  making 
them  mighty  leaders  in  the  kingdom.  We  can  find 
many  churches  either  self-supporting  or  rapidly  at- 
taining to  this  desired  goal,  with  native  pastors  and 
Christian  leaders  the  joy  of  our  hearts  and  the  hope 
of  the  work.  As  we  look  for  the  cause,  we  find  that 
some  wise  missionary  threw  the  responsibility  on  the 
natives  as  they  were  prepared ;  and  he  prepared  them 
by  committing  to  their  hands  the  trust  of  handling 
the  problems  of  the  churches  and  schools.  Not  only 
is  this  true  in  China,  but  they  are  organizing  to  do 
home  mission  work  by  laying  plans  to  reach  out  into 
the  untouched  fields  where  the  missionary  cannot  go. 
Some  of  the  most  hopeful  work  in  China  to-day  is 
done  by  the  Chinese  Home  Mission  Societies. 

The  natives  in  China  are  poor  beyond  our  words  to 
describe.  We  have  never  seen  poverty  in  the  West 
when  we  once  see  it  in  the  Orient.  However,  the 
poor  in  their  heathen  worship  spend  large  sums  of 
money.  If  we  can  get  them  to  spend  as  much  for  the 
worship  of  the  true  God  as  they  spend  on  the  wor- 
ship of  the  false,  the  question  of  self-support  will  be 
solved  in  many  churches.  When  they  realize  that 
the  work  is  theirs  and  they  are  responsible  for  its 
success,  they  will  be  able  to  give  much  more  towards 
its  support.  In  China  and  Japan  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  has 
taught  us  rather  a  valuable  lesson  in  reference  to 
self-support.  The  general  up-keep  of  most  of  the 
Associational  work,  except  the  foreign  secretaries 


LABOUEING  WITH  THE  NATIVES       77 

and  part  of  the  first  buildings,  is  attended  to  by  the 
natives.  Nearly  all  the  important  positions  are  held 
by  natives.  Both  the  local  and  national  organiza- 
tions are  largely  under  their  control,  and  it  is  most 
encouraging  to  see  how  these  natives  respond  to  the 
demands  of  the  Association  financially  and  other- 
wise. It  is  true  that  the  Association  may  appeal  to 
the  practical  needs  of  the  people  more  than  the 
churches  do;  but  the  churches  ought  to  be  able  to 
help  solve  the  practical  questions  of  the  daily  needs 
as  well  as  the  eternal  realities  of  the  kingdom. 
Christianity  is  profitable  for  this  life  and  the  life 
to  come.  We  need  to  realize  this  in  the  mission 
fields  if  we  are  to  accomplish  the  greatest  results. 

The  Catholics  lost  their  first  great  opportunity  in 
the  Orient  because  they  were  not  wise  in  dealing 
with  the  natives,  turning  the  hearts  of  the  people 
away  from  their  own  country  to  the  *'Holy 
See"  at  Rome  as  the  source  of  all  authority. 
Local  congregations  of  the  believers  could  not 
handle  religious  and  civil  questions.  Such  a  policy 
brought  consternation  to  the  rulers  and  severe  perse- 
cution that  drove  the  priests  out  of  the  country. 
The  so-called  Christianity  of  that  early  day  failed, 
defective  as  it  was,  not  by  reason  of  the  doctrine,  but 
by  method  in  dealing  with  the  natives.  Wrong 
methods  in  the  past — and  these  errors  are  not  all 
confined  to  early  Catholicism — have  so  prejudiced 
the  people,  and  especially  the  ruling  class,  against 
Christianity,  that  we  have  a  hard  time  to  make 


78  MEN  AND  METHODS 

them  realize  the  blessings  the  world's  Saviour  has  for 
them. 

We  are  still  in  the  danger  zone,  and  are  constantly- 
drifting  back  to  the  early  methods  of  failure.  This 
question  concerns  the  establishing  of  the  Kingdom  of 
God  in  all  lands  far  more  than  we  may  think. 

My  own  conviction,  based  on  rather  an  extensive 
observation,  is  that  we  influence  the  natives  most 
by  the  indwelling  Christ,  whose  personality  and 
moral  power  and  influence  will  move  human  hearts 
anywhere  for  the  right  if  these  hearts  are  born 
from  above.  He  who  is  properly  related  to  the 
Master  for  spiritual  and  moral  equipment  will  have 
no  desire  for  the  machinery  of  organization  and  the 
power  of  money  or  official  position;  he  goes  deeper 
than  all  these,  and  finds  he  wants  no  other  force 
than  that  of  the  Holy  Spirit  whom  Paul  and  all 
great  missionaries  make  the  source  of  power  to  in- 
fluence other  lives.  The  missionary  should  never 
let  the  temptation  to  resort  to  short-cut  political 
methods  for  results  control  action,  but  follow  closely 
the  footsteps  of  the  Master  in  leading  men  to  the 
Father.  In  this  we  find  all  the  success  that  is  worth 
while,  and  when  we  deviate  from  the  safe  course, 
failure  soon  or  later  in  true  spiritual  results  will 
follow.  The  Lord,  Whose  we  are  and  Whom  we 
serve,  will  give  us  both  power  and  wisdom  rightly 
related  to  life  and  the  conditions  of  these  lands  to 
do  this  great  work  for  Him  and  the  needy  millions. 


VII 
WORKING  WITH  FELLOW-MISSIONARIES 

THE  work  that  counts  most  is  team  work. 
Christ  prayed  that  ''they  might  be  per- 
fected into  one ;  that  the  world  may  know 
that  thou  didst  send  me,  and  lovedst  them,  even  as 
thou  lovedst  me"  (John  17:23).  A  recalcitrant 
missionary  constantly  running  contrary  to  the  great 
forces  of  the  marching  army  is  a  serious  problem  in 
any  field.  We  have  great  sympathy  for  the  man 
who  is  sincere,  and  finds  himself  out  of  touch  with 
his  fellow-missionaries  as  they  are  united  in  advanc- 
ing the  Lord's  work;  but  can  he  thus  have  the  Spirit 
of  God  ruling  his  heart,  since  where  the  Spirit  is 
there  is  unity,  harmony,  peace,  and  good-will.  We 
have  no  sympathy  for  man-made  uniformity  or  any 
man  who  would  sacrifice  the  truth  to  walk  with  the 
crowd.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  Jesus  first 
prayed  that  His  children  would  be  ''sanctified  in  the 
truth,  thy  word  is  the  truth"  before  He  prayed  that 
they  all  may  be  one,  knowing  that  "thy  word,"  the 
truth,  is  the  basis  of  all  true  unity  and  power  of 
conquest.  Jesus  prayed  this  prayer  just  before  He 
entered  the  shadows  and  agony  of  the  Cross  by 

79 


80  MEN  AND  METHODS 

which  (Paul  tells  us)  all  forces  in  heaven  and  on 
earth  will  be  reconciled  or  made  one  to  conquer  the 
lands  of  darkness.  We  need  to  study  not  how  we 
may  run  alone,  but  how  we  can  walk  with  our 
brother  and  unite  our  efforts  to  do  the  Lord's  work. 

Satan  is  the  author  of  confusion  and  strife,  and 
finds  his  vulnerable  place  in  the  missionary  propa- 
ganda in  the  missionary  himself.  We  have  one  Cap- 
tain who  is  leading  us.  I  believe  the  source  of  all 
true  unity  and  army  order  is  in  the  purpose  and 
power  of  the  Captain.  He  never  deviated  from  the 
goal  of  the  Cross,  was  never  willing  to  sacrifice 
truth  or  to  compromise  in  methods;  and  we  shall 
need  to  look  to  Him  for  power  and  wisdom  to  labour 
together  in  His  work.  There  are  many  things  that 
hinder  the  unity  we  so  much  need,  yet  often  have 
difficulty  in  obtaining.  I  will  mention  a  few  of  these 
hindrances  that  mistakes  may  be  avoided. 

1.  National  pride  is  a  barrier.  We  love  our 
country  and  believe  our  ideals  are  the  very  best. 
Most  of  us  believe  we  are  from  *'no  mean  country,*' 
and  it  is  our  duty  to  stand  up  for  our  own,  ''my 
native  land. ' '  We  should  have  a  wholesome  love  for 
our  country,  provided  her  basic  principles  are  ac- 
cording to  the  ideals  of  the  Kingdom  of  God ;  yet  we 
ought  to  realize  our  citizenship  is  in  heaven.  We 
are  colonists  here,  temporarily  labouring  for  the 
heavenly  residence  to  which  we  go,  and  the  interests 
of  the  Kingdom  of  God  should  take  precedence  over 
the  demands  of  the  various  countries.    No  earthly 


WOEKING  WITH  FELLOW-MISSIONAEIES  81 

barrier  should  hinder  the  love  and  fellowship  of  the 
citizens  of  the  heavenly.  We  are  earthly,  sensual 
and  carnal,  in  the  words  of  Paul,  if  we  are  letting 
these  barriers  interfere  with  our  Christian  love  and 
fellowship. 

2.  Another  barrier,  akin  to  the  first,  is  knowing 
men  after  the  flesh.  Paul  seems  to  have  made  this 
mistake  in  his  early  Christian  life,  certainly  before 
he  was  a  Christian ;  but  after  he  knew  the  Lord  and 
understood  the  meaning  of  the  Cross,  he  knew  men 
after  the  flesh  no  more.  He  judged  men,  if  at  all, 
in  their  relation  to  the  great  Sacrifice  where  we  all 
died  with  Christ  that  we  might  henceforth  live,  not 
unto  ourselves,  but  unto  Christ  who  died  for  us. 
To  judge  men  after  the  flesh  we  are  perpetuating 
the  old  Judaizing  spirit,  which  Paul  fought  with  all 
his  power,  and  that  in  the  end  must  have  caused  his 
death.  The  spirit  is  not  dead  even  in  these  days, 
though  it  may  have  much  more  attractive  names. 
As  we  see  the  suffering  Christ  dying  for  us  and  bear- 
ing the  awful  shame  of  sin  and  the  Cross,  we  lose  all 
our  pride  in  self  and  selfish  things,  and  find  we  are 
one  with  Christ  and  one  with  each  other  in  living 
wholly  unto  the  Father  to  make  known  these  infinite 
blessings  of  grace  unto  all  men.  We  must  know  Him 
in  the  life  of  sacrifice  and  utter  surrender  of  our 
wills  to  the  Father  before  the  power  of  His  resur- 
rection may  fill  our  hearts  and  make  us  live  hence- 
forth unto  the  Father,  and  no  longer  be  dominated 
by  the  spirit  that  knows  men  after  the  flesh.    Every 


82  MEN  AND  METHODS 

missionary  ought  to  follow  Paul  as  lie  followed 
Christ  in  knowing  no  man  after  the  flesh,  not  even 
Christ,  much  less  our  people.  If  each  one  wills,  much 
strife  will  be  averted  and  harmony  and  unity  will 
prevail  to  the  glory  of  the  Father. 

3.  Too  many  conflicting  plans.  Foreign  mis- 
sion work  is  becoming  highly  organized,  and  the 
missionary  must  fit  into  the  complex  order  (I  fear 
too  often  of  man's  making),  and  many  times  this  is 
done  with  much  friction.  In  the  times  of  prayer, 
devotion  and  fellowship  in  the  study  of  God 's  Word, 
all  hearts  are  one;  but  as  soon  as  the  problems  of 
organization  and  directing  the  work  arrive,  then 
trouble  and  strife  forthwith  come,  and  the  unity 
and  fellowship  are  gone.  In  the  management  of 
the  work  the  noble  ideals,  which  ought  to  make  us 
one,  Ave  find  the  greatest  difficulty.  We  know  the 
ideals;  but  we  must  face  facts  as  they  are,  says  an 
old  missionary.  If  we  are  willing  to  give  the  ideals 
of  service  first  place,  then  we  can  surmount  the 
barriers  of  unity. 

It  is  here  we  need  to  spend  much  time  in  prayer, 
obtaining  the  Lord's  will  and  wisdom  and  spirit  if 
we  manage  great  mission  problems  (and  we  must), 
and  always  retain  that  joyful  spirit  of  love  and  good- 
will, preferring  the  other's  honour,  seeking  only  the 
Lord's  glory  in  doing  His  work.  His  ''oil  of  glad- 
ness" must  make  the  machinery  run  smoothly  in  all 
fields,  with  all  human  hearts  and  wills  being  made 
conformable  to  His. 


WOEKING  WITH  FELLOW-MISSIONAEIES  83 

4.  Previous  ideas  and  ideals  may  prove  a  bar- 
rier. We  will  think  that  things  ought  to  be  done 
in  the  foreign  fields  as  in  the  home  land.  We  will 
try  to  graft  old  plans  and  ideals  to  the  new  situa- 
tion. We  will  want  to  follow  the  paths  of  others  of 
blessed  memory,  w^ho  were  great  leaders  at  home, 
and  mark  out  our  courses  according  to  home  stand- 
ards. This  may  be  best  sometimes,  as  there  are  the 
unchangeable  truths  of  our  Lord  fitted  for  all  times 
and  countries,  and  certain  methods  may  be  the  di- 
rect outcome  of  centuries  of  wisdom  and  experience ; 
yet  I  insist  that  nothing  should  be  decided  simply 
on  the  grounds  that  others  have  done  this  way  in 
the  West.  We  have  the  great  privilege  of  looking 
at  the  Lord's  work  from  the  New  Testament  stand- 
ard and  get  our  ideas  and  ideals  from  the  Master 
direct.  This  is  far  more  true  and  important  in  the 
new  fields  of  the  non-Christian  lands  than  in  the 
West,  yet  we  might  have  more  unity  and  harmony 
even  in  the  old  fields  of  the  West  if  this  were  true. 

There  are  always  enough  in  the  mission  fields,  who 
will  want  to  revert  back  to  first  principles  and  use 
methods  best  fitted  to  propagate  these,  to  make  it 
difficult  to  harmonize  the  forces  when  some  arp  try- 
ing to  reproduce  Western  church  life  and  methods 
— purely  as  such — in  the  new  fields.  Such  ought  to 
be  resisted,  and  fought  openly,  as  Paul  did  Peter, 
because  of  the  wrong  involved.  Unity  and  fellow- 
ship cannot  be  safely  based  on  men  and  methods, 
but  back  to  the  essentials  as  revealed  in  Christ. 


84  MEN  AND  METHODS 

Here  we  obtain  the  source  of  victory  for  all  fields 
and  all  time. 

5.  Many  barriers  to  unity  may  be  traced  to 
physical  causes.  The  run-down  nervous  missionary 
cannot  see  things  as  they  are  and  he  may  be  a  real 
barrier  to  harmony.  Such  a  missionary  may  be 
strong  on  unity  in  theory,  and  especially  when  dis- 
cussing union  with  those  of  other  sections,  but  when 
it  comes  to  daily  contact  in  the  working  of  the  com- 
mon problems,  friction  arises  like  cross  bands  out  of 
place  in  a  machine  shop.  The  very  zeal  and  faith- 
fulness to  duty  may  be  the  occasion  for  the  nervous- 
ness, but  motives  and  earnest  labours  will  not  remove 
the  barriers  of  unity  that  arise  from  the  nervous 
condition. 

I  think  those  who  are  more  fortunate,  who  can 
labour  long  and  faithfully  and  still  hold  their  nerv- 
ous poise  and  radiant  healthful  spirit,  ought  to 
have  endless  patience  with  the  unfortunate  ones. 
We  must  trace  such  troubles  largely  to  the  nervous 
ills,  which  are  truly  physical  troubles  oftentimes  in 
their  origin,  and  deal  with  them  with  all  kindness 
and  patience,  be  the  provocation  ever  so  trying.  If 
anywhere  the  strong  should  bear  the  infirmities  of 
the  weak,  it  is  here.  We  should  be  like  Abraham: 
yield  to  them  and  show  the  more  noble  way  when 
there  is  no  great  principle  involved.  Certainly  the 
nervous-sick  ones  need  this,  the  work  requires  it, 
and  our  Lord  urges  it ;  and  we  should  always  under 
all  conditions  do  it. 


WOEKIITG  WITH  FELLOW-MISSIONAEIES  85 

6.  Self-assertiveness  is  a  great  barrier.  The 
very  nature  of  our  work  tends  to  develop  this  in  our 
lives.  It  is  no  sign  of  power  and  true  Christian 
grace  to  be  able  to  assert  one's  rights  bravely  and 
show  the  weaknesses  and  faults  of  others.  It  is  cer- 
tainly not  a  grace  to  determine  to  have  your  way 
even  though  nothing  would  be  lost  in  surrendering 
your  rights  for  the  good  of  others  as  Paul  did.  It 
requires  much  more  courage  and  bravery  to  let  others 
have  their  way ;  and  you  live  patiently  the  right,  un- 
resentful  even  when  falsely  accused.  It  is  ever  well 
to  remember  that  Paul  gave  good  advice  to  all  sol- 
diers of  the  expanding  kingdom  when  he  wrote  to 
missionaries  (foreign)  Timothy  and  Titus,  saying, 
''And  the  Lord's  servant  must  not  strive,  but  be 
gentle  towards  all,  apt  to  teach,  forbearing,  in  meek- 
ness correcting  them  that  oppose  themselves ;  if  per- 
adventure  God  may  give  them  repentance  unto  the 
knowledge  of  the  truth."  It  is  not  our  business  to 
retaliate,  give  men  their  dues,  as  men  of  the  world 
do,  for  God  will  do  this  in  due  time.  We  must  set 
forth  Christ  and  draw  men  unto  the  Father  by  this. 

These  simple  suggestions  may  seem  altogether  out 
of  place  in  discussing  such  a  holy  subject,  but  should 
not  when  we  remember  that  in  the  New  Testament 
times.  Christian  ethics  found  a  large  place  in  all  the 
writers,  and  especially  those  dealing  with  mixed 
races.  If  we  do  much  for  Christianity  in  these  non- 
Christian  lands,  we  will  still  put  the  emphasis  where 
the  early  writers  did.     In  these  things  we  reveal 


86  MEN  AND  METHODS 

Christianity  most  and  show  the  difference  between 
it  and  heathen  philosophies.  In  new  fields  these 
things  have  a  great  part  in  the  success  of  all  forms 
of  work  between  the  missionary  and  the  native,  as 
well  as  among  the  missionaries  themselves. 

Other  barriers  might  be  mentioned,  but  these  are 
enough  lest  I  be  found  with  the  one  talent  of  criti- 
cism, which  if  buried  the  Lord  would  rev/ard.  I 
am  glad  to  say  even  the  barriers  which  I  mention  do 
not  exist  in  all  fields  or  with  all  individuals  in  any 
field,  but  enough  do  exist  to  make  it  worth  while  to 
mention  that  we  may  always  guard  against  such 
weaknesses  in  our  lives.  I  must  give  a  few  sentences 
to  the  positive  side  of  harmonizing  and  unifying  our 
forces. 

1.  We  need  to  remember  ever  that  the  mission- 
ary is  God's  man,  the  Lord's  ambassador.  We  did 
not  choose  our  companions  in  the  work.  They,  like 
we,  were  chosen  by  the  Lord  and  the  brethren  and 
placed  with  us.  They  have  the  same  Master,  the 
same  large  motives ;  we  are  all  needed  for  perfecting 
the  Church  for  the  battle.  The  Lord  of  the  harvest 
field  alone  can  make  us  one  in  all  things.  We  can 
confidently  look  to  Him  to  do  this  for  the  glory  of 
the  work  and  the  saving  of  the  millions  in  darkness. 

2.  We  first  have  fellowship  with  the  Master,  and 
then  with  one  another.  Our  fellowship  does  not 
come  from  countries,  from  men,  from  organizations, 
but  from  Him;  hence,  if  we  were  to  spend  more 
time  with  Him  in  the  beginning  of  each  day  and 


WOEKING  WITH  FELLOW-MISSION AEIES  87 

faithfully  look  to  Him  at  every  turn  of  the  way,  we 
would  have  more  unity  and  harmony  that  is  divine 
and  the  beauty  of  much  mission  work.  Our  Master 
in  His  farewell  words  with  His  loving  disciples  just 
before  He  entered  the  Garden  and  then  to  the  Cross 
in  these  very  last  words  of  the  prayer  says,  ' '  I  made 
known  unto  them  thy  name,  and  will  make  it  known 
(until  the  end  of  the  time)  ;  that  the  love  wherewith 
thou  lovedst  me  may  be  in  them,  and  I  in  them. ' '  It 
is  in  this  we  expect  the  unity — the  oneness — for 
which  He  prayed  and  the  world  so  much  needs. 

3.  We  need  to  look  kindly  at  men's  weaknesses — 
never  at  their  sms, — but  no  Christian  will  knowingly 
have  these.  We  cannot  always  see  alike,  and  we 
need  not  expect  to.  Each  has  his  own  light,  con- 
science, and  Master,  and  each  should  bear  with  the 
other  until  the  Lord  gives  us  wisdom  and  power  to 
see  things  as  He  does.  It  is  far  better  *'to  do  all 
things  unto  edification,"  and  thus  help  each  other 
to  live  Christ  to  the  good  of  all.  Even  Christ  had  to 
deal  with  men  as  they  were  in  revealing  the  truth 
and  Himself.  We  are  far  more  helpful  to  each 
other  and  the  work  we  live  to  do  by  manifesting  the 
same  spirit  in  all  our  relationships.  Thus  was  the 
Saviour's  method  in  dealing  with  men  with  like 
passions  as  we  ourselves.  We  shall  be  most  pleasing 
to  the  Father  and  do  most  to  establish  His  reign  in 
the  hearts  of  men  if  we  will  do  likewise. 

4.  Place  large  emphasis  on  the  things  wherein 
we  agree.    We  agree  more  often  than  we  disagree. 


88  ME^  A^D  METHODS 

but  the  differences  cause  the  greatest  noise.  If  we 
were  to  walk  together  in  the  things  we  agree  and 
wisely  stay  free  from  the  differences,  except  when 
truth  is  involved,  we  would  do  much  to  unify  our 
forces.  Of  course  we  would  be  unwise  to  sacrifice 
truth  or  duty  to  walk  together,  but  the  truth  and 
duty  that  make  our  hearts  and  lives  one  in  meeting 
the  world's  needs  will  be  worth  the  most  to  the  pres- 
ent situation. 

In  writing  about  the  unity  and  harmony  of  God's 
people  I  am  thinking  about  missionaries  working 
together  in  their  own  missions.  The  larger  ques- 
tion of  all  forces  working  together,  I  have  not  sought 
to  include,  as  the  briefness  of  this  chapter  will  not 
permit  the  discussion  of  this  larger  question. 

5.  Have  proper  regard  for  the  physical.  I  must 
not  close  this  chapter  without  mentioning  the 
importance  of  the  physical  in  relation  to  all  questions 
of  unity.  Our  physical  health  will  do  much  to  pre- 
pare us  for  the  highest  efficiency  in  harmonious  ac- 
tion as  well  as  in  other  spheres  of  activity.  Noble 
living,  a  radiant,  hopeful,  buoyant  physical  life  will 
be  much  more  easily  adjusted  to  united  effort  than 
the  nervous  and  run-down  bodies  of  God's  servants. 
I  need  not  dwell  on  this  here  as  I  have  spoken  so 
largely  in  chapter  two,  yet  no  question  of  united 
action  can  be  rightly  viewed  unless  we  give  large 
place  to  the  physical  condition  of  the  labourers. 


VIII 

METHODS  OPPORTUNE  FOR  PRESENT 
EMPHASIS 

IN  the  ongoings  of  God's  kingdom  we  need  to 
place  the  emphasis  according  to  the  needs  and 
times  of  the  countries  in  which  we  labour.  The 
men  of  large  visions  and  practical  application  have 
always  done  this.  This  does  not  mean  that  we 
change  the  great  realities  of  the  Gospel — these  are 
eternal  and  suited  to  all  lands  and  times ;  but  being 
true  to  these,  we  study  carefully  the  best  methods 
of  approach  and  use  these  to  make  effective  the 
Gospel  to  meet  all  needs.  Herein  we  need  great 
wisdom  in  studying  the  life-currents  of  various  lands 
to  understand  how  to  adjust  our  message  and  ap- 
proach our  task  so  as  to  bring  about  the  greatest 
results  in  reaching  the  desired  ends. 

There  are  a  number  of  things  which  the  mission- 
ary has  done  in  China,  not  directly  preaching  the 
Gospel,  that  have  been  a  great  blessing  to  the  people 
and  prepared  them  to  understand  and  receive  the 
Gospel.  The  opium  habit  has  been  largely  controlled 
and  crushed  out  in  China  by  the  work  of  the  mis- 
sionary.   He  began  the  warfare  and  has  continued 

89 


90  MEN  AND  METHODS 

his  opposition  until  the  happy  ending  is  in  sight. 
Others  have  helped,  but  the  real  power  has  been  in 
the  missionary  and  the  Anti-Opium  Society.  This 
is  also  true  as  to  the  Anti-Foot-Binding  Society, 
started  by  the  missionary.  Not  so  much  progress  has 
been  made  in  this  cruel  habit  as  with  the  opium,  yet 
it  is  practically  over  in  certain  sections,  and  real 
headway  has  been  made  in  the  nation  as  a  whole. 
The  blessings  that  have  come  to  the  Chinese  people 
through  these  two  societies  can  never  be  estimated, 
yet  it  is  really  due  to  the  work  of  the  missionary.  The 
education  of  the  masses — and  especially  the  women — 
is  due  to  the  work  of  the  missionary.  Orphanages 
and  asylums  for  the  insane  and  blind  and  helpless 
have  been  started  by  the  missionary. 

A  closer  study  of  Christ 's  own  methods  will  show 
that  such  work  is  part  of  the  Gospel.  In  the  be- 
ginning of  our  Lord's  ministry  this  He  said  of  His 
work:  "The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me,  because 
He  has  anointed  me  to  preach  glad  tidings  to  the 
poor;  He  hath  sent  me  to  proclaim  release  to  the 
captives,  and  recovering  of  sight  to  the  blind,  to 
set  at  liberty  them  that  are  bruised,  to  proclaim  the 
acceptable  year  of  the  Lord."  If  we  will  put  the 
emphasis  where  the  Master  did  in  His  life  among 
men,  we  will  find  that  our  message  will  be  of  like 
import  with  His.  This  is  the  key  to  human  hearts 
everywhere,  and  prepares  dull  hearts  and  eyes,  that 
see  the  glimmering  light,  so  that  the  full  Gospel  for 
salvation  of  both  soul  and  body  may  be  received. 


METHODS  OPPOETUOT:  91 

To  make  the  meaning  more  clear,  I  give  a  few  con- 
crete examples. 

1.  The  medical  work.  It  is  said  that  the  door  of 
China  was  opened  by  the  lancet.  Not  only  is  this 
true,  but  many  a  heart  has  been  opened  to  receive 
the  full  Gospel.  The  Chinese  have  in  many  instances 
received  their  best  impression  concerning  Christian- 
ity from  the  hospital  work.  The  first  hospital  ever 
opened  in  China  was  opened  in  Canton  eighty-two 
years  ago.  The  hospital  exists  to-day,  treating  more 
than  fifty  thousand  each  year;  all  expenses  for  its 
upkeep  and  enlargement  are  borne  by  the  Chinese 
and  others  in  China  except  some  of  the  salaries  of 
the  missionaries,  and  even  these  are  borne  partly  by 
the  hospital,  while  several  hundred  thousand  dollars 
are  being  raised  for  a  new  plant.  Chinese  of  all 
classes,  from  the  highest  to  the  common  coolie,  are 
contributing  to  the  larger  plans.  The  Baptists  have 
a  hospital  at  Wuchow,  which  two  years  ago  paid  all 
expenses  except  the  foreign  physician's  salary,  and 
had  three  thousand  dollars  at  the  end  of  the  year 
to  help  the  building  fund.  The  Wesleyans  at  Fat 
Shan  have  a  hospital  that  paid  all  expenses  and  had 
fifteen  thousand  dollars  to  go  to  general  expense. 

There  are  thousands  of  cities  in  China  with  no 
hospital,  no  Western  trained  doctor,  that  would  sup- 
port hospitals  if  there  were  Christian  physicians  to 
go  there  and  heal  the  bodies  of  the  suffering  and  tell 
them  of  the  world's  Saviour.  These  hospitals  would 
be  a  great  blessing  to  the  Chinese,  prepare  them  for 


92  MEN  AND  METHODS 

the  Gospel,  remove  prejudice,  and  bring  about  tbe 
best  of  feelings  between  the  East  and  the  West. 
The  people  would  furnish  the  equipment  and  keep 
up  the  hospitals  in  many  places.  There  is  no  greater 
opportunity  in  all  the  world  to  do  a  great  work  for 
needy  humanity  by  the  noble  art  of  healing!  Of 
course  with  the  hospital  there  ought  to  go  the  nurse 
to  help  and  to  train  others  by  the  gentle,  loving 
touch  that  will  open  the  homes  and  hearts  of  the 
women  and  men  in  China — especially  the  women,  as 
women  work  in  the  main  with  the  women  and  girls. 
The  work  of  the  nurse  is  far  more  important  in  these 
lands  than  in  the  home  land. 

2.  Orphanages  and  other  eleemosynary  institu- 
tions. Children  are  not  appreciated  by  the  general 
public  in  China.  They  do  not  recognize  the  worth 
of  childhood.  There  were  no  orphanages  or  other 
kindred  institutions  in  China  until  the  missionary 
work  revealed  the  love  of  Christ  for  all  classes — and 
childhood.  Some  groups  of  Christians  are  starting 
such  institutions  and  the  non-Christian  community 
is  joining  in  the  work.  The  need  is  all  the  more  im- 
portant because  it  helps  to  meet  an  imperative  need 
in  China  and  also  reveals  in  a  most  tangible  way  the 
spirit  of  Chrisi:.  But  little  has  been  done  in  the  past 
even  by  the  missionaries,  yet  the  time  has  come  when 
more  emphasis  ought  to  be  put  on  this  kind  of  work, 
not  necessary  to  use  much  funds  from  the  home  land, 
but  rather  to  guide  the  Chinese  and  they  will  soon 
manage  the  work  and  finance  it. 


METHODS  OPPOETUNE  93 

3.  Industrial  work.  But  little  has  been  done  in 
the  way  of  industrial  education  in  the  Orient,  yet 
this  will,  no  doubt,  in  the  near  future  be  a  very 
large  factor  in  spreading  the  truths  of  Christianity. 
The  Chinese  are  the  poorest  people  in  the  world, 
yet  with  greatest  amount  of  natural  resources  and 
man  power  of  any  nation  on  this  earth.  The  natural 
resources  are  practically  untouched  and  the  people 
are  in  dire  need  for  the  necessities  of  life  much  of 
the  time. 

Industrial  work  will  solve  many  a  problem  of  the 
Church's  growth  and  development  by  the  native 
Christians  in  a  way  that  nothing  else  can  do ;  and  it 
will  do  much  towards  giving  an  education  to  many  a 
poor  girl  or  boy  who  could  not  otherwise  get  the 
education.  It  will  honour  labour  and  make  educa- 
tion practical  in  meeting  the  common  needs  of  life, 
give  the  educated  man  a  strong  physique  which  he 
has  lacked  in  the  old  order  where  all  kinds  of  phys- 
ical labour  were  regarded  as  dishonourable  by  the 
scholar.  Western  education  has  not  received  that 
favour  due  it  in  the  Orient;  for  as  yet  it  has  not 
fitted  the  people  to  solve  the  daily  problems  of  ex- 
istence, and  this  is  the  chief  concern  of  the  leaders 
in  China,  and  of  the  masses. 

Julean  Arnold  told  me  about  his  experience  in 
travelling  over  China  examining  into  the  condition 
of  the  country,  and  also  seeing  the  work  of  the  mis- 
sionary. Some  places  the  missionary  is  not  known 
but  by  few,  though  he  had  lived  in  the  country  for 


94  MEN  AND  METHODS 

quite  a  while.  He  found  such  missionaries  to  be 
critical,  complaining  about  the  people  and  the  meth- 
ods that  other  missionaries  are  using  in  trying  to 
meet  the  people's  needs.  He  found  another  class  of 
missionaries,  who  were  known  favourably  by  all 
classes.  An  investigation  showed  that  these  who  were 
highly  regarded  were  seeking  to  make  their  work 
practical,  using  various  means  of  contact  so  as  to 
win  the  confidence  of  the  people  and  then  revealing 
Christ  to  them.  We  shall  need  to  guide  wisely  all 
our  efforts  to  reveal  Christ,  using  the  most  effective 
means  in  the  fields  where  we  labour. 

4.  Reading  rooms  and  book  depots  can  be  made 
a  great  factor  in  disseminating  Christian  knowledge. 
In  China  the  written  character  is  sacred ;  hence,  the 
message  sent  forth  in  well  prepared  written  tracts 
and  scriptural  portions  will  be  of  immeasurable 
worth  to  reach  the  masses  with  the  Gospel  of  salva- 
tion. The  influence  of  the  printed  page  unques- 
tionably is  of  far  greater  influence  than  many  other 
methods  of  work  according  to  the  amount  spent  this 
way.  If  the  Christians  of  the  West  were  to  scatter 
the  leaves  for  the  healing  of  the  nations  broadcast 
over  the  desert  fields  of  China,  there  would  spring 
up  oases  everywhere  that  would  bring  life  and  power 
for  all  kinds  of  Christian  activity.  Many  methods 
have  been  used  to  disseminate  the  printed  page,  but 
the  book-room  and  depot  has  proven  to  be  one  of  the 
very  best.  It  can  be  made  a  center  for  the  col- 
porteur, the  preacher,  the  druggist-colporteur,  and 


METHODS  OPPOBTUNE  95 

the  evangelist  and  all  forms  of  Christian  activity. 
The  method  will  need  to  be  adjusted  to  local  condi- 
tions, but  the  doing  must  be  done  speedily  before 
the  baneful  literature  fills  the  waiting  hearts  of  the 
people,  and  then  they  will  not  be  so  easy  to  guide  to 
the  source  of  all  truth — our  Saviour. 

5.  Help  in  local  problems.  I  do  not  mean  that 
the  missionary  should  have  anything  to  do  with  law 
troubles  and  the  ordinary  clan  troubles  of  the  Chris- 
tians. Every  Christian  must  understand  that  he 
should  be  subject  to  ''the  powers  that  be,"  even  if 
these  are  not  the  best,  except  when  they  interfere 
with  his  duty  to  the  Father.  However,  in  many 
things  the  missionary  can  be  a  real  help  in  the  local 
affairs  such  as  questions  of  sanitation,  public  im- 
provement of  his  locality,  opposing  Western  social 
evils,  good  schools,  public  parks,  etc.  The  non- 
Christian  lands  are  very  much  in  need  of  such  prac- 
tical efforts,  but  the  people  do  not  always  appreciate 
them  or  know  how  to  bring  about  the  desired  ends ; 
hence,  the  missionary  can  do  much  good  and  pre- 
pare all  classes  for  his  real  message  by  helping, 
largely  in  an  advisory  way,  by  establisliing  such 
forms  of  service. 

I  know  of  one  city  in  China  where  the  missionaries 
have  been  a  great  factor  in  organizing  and  develop- 
ing a  local  city  council.  A  municipal  council  was 
organized  to  handle  all  local  questions  such  as  men- 
tioned in  the  previous  paragraph.  Many  of  the  best 
and  most  influential  people  in  the  city  were  members 


96  MEN  AND  METHODS 

of  this  organization.  The  head  police,  the  chief  sur- 
geon of  the  military  hospital,  a  number  of  educators, 
pastors,  business  men,  lawyers,  congressmen,  etc.  A 
missionary  served  by  the  choice  of  the  majority  for 
a  number  of  years  as  chairman.  Many  questions  of 
improvement  that  concerned  the  welfare  of  the  city 
were  handled  by  this  municipal  council  that  could 
not  have  been  handled  any  other  way.  Its  good 
work  was  known  far  and  near.  The  highest  officials 
in  that  section  of  China  entrusted  many  questions  to 
this  organization  and  were  pleased  with  the  results. 

Such  work  will  take  some  time  of  the  missionary, 
but  it  will  not  require  much,  and  most  of  this  can  be 
done  in  the  evenings.  It  is  well  worth  while  if  wisely 
guarded  and  always  used  for  the  impartial  welfare 
of  the  people  of  all  classes,  and  using  this  as  a  method 
of  contact  to  influence  others — and  especially  those 
in  high  position — for  the  Gospel. 

6.  Organizations  to  reach  various  classes,  but  es- 
pecially the  boys  and  girls.  In  practically  every 
city  where  missionaries  are  located,  an  organization 
for  reaching  and  moulding  boys  and  one  for  girls, 
for  Jesus  Christ  ought  to  be  established.  Such  or- 
ganizations may  or  may  not  be  connected  with  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  Y.  W.  C.  A.  In  many  places  this  is 
impractical ;  but  such  organizations  with  one  aim  and 
practical  methods  suited  to  young  lives  can  be  es- 
tablished wherever  missionaries  reside  that  will  mean 
much  for  the  Kingdom  of  God  in  reaching  the  class 
that  is  destined  to  make  or  mar  all  our  efforts. 


METHODS  OPPOETUNE  97 

One  of  the  failures  of  Christianity 's  present  effort 
in  many  fields  is  that  the  young  are  not  being  mar- 
shalled for  the  army  of  our  God.  This  is  due  in 
part  to  the  fact  that  we  do  not  recognize  the  im- 
portance of  using  methods  adapted  to  young  life. 
In  any  mission  field  in  the  world  the  young  will 
respond  to  right  methods  in  a  most  hopeful  way. 
This  has  been  tried  out  by  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  with 
most  encouraging  results.  We  cannot  always  use 
the  methods  of  this  organization,  but  we  ought  to 
seek  to  give  even  more  importance  to  the  needs  of 
the  young  people.  Various  methods  will  come  to 
the  thoughtful,  prayerful  missionary.  Julean  Ar- 
nold tells  about  visiting  a  certain  mission  in  China, 
and  reaching  a  mission  home  Saturday  afternoon, 
and  finding  the  lady  of  the  home  with  a  number  of 
the  city's  most  promising  boys  in  her  parlour.  He 
asked  the  reason  and  found  that  this  wise  mission- 
ary had  a  boys'  club  in  her  home.  She  had  the  boys 
to  join,  paying  a  small  fee  to  give  the  organization 
standing,  the  boys  voting  on  its  members.  They 
came  to  her  home — a  foreign  woman  in  China — and 
counted  it  a  privilege  to  study  with  her  the  great 
questions  of  life  in  service  for  the  nation's  good. 
These  young  people  are  plastic,  waiting  to  be 
moulded  for  the  Kingdom  of  God,  and  it  is  our  duty 
to  seek  the  best  method  to  do  this  thing. 

We  shall  ever  need  to  look  to  our  Master  to  be  able 
to  choose  the  best  method  and  always  use  every 
method  as  a  means  of  practical  contact  to  help  solve 


98  MEN  AND  METHODS 

the  present  and  future  and  eternal  needs  of  the  soul 
and  body  in  establishing  the  Kingdom  of  God  in  the 
hearts  of  men  and  in  society  where  the  Father's 
will  will  be  done  and  then  ''daily  bread"  and  every 
need  will  be  adequately  met. 


IX 

THE  PRESENT  CALL  AND  WHO  SHOULD  GO 

EVERY  student  of  the  world  situation  realizes 
that  the  old  order  in  China,  at  least,  is  pass- 
ing away.  Will  the  new  order  be  a  better 
one  wherein  righteousness  and  Christian  conditions 
exist?  This  question  will  inevitably  be  answered  by 
the  relation  we  sustain  to  the  opportunities  now  con- 
fronting us.  I  am  conscious  of  the  many  changes 
the  world  over,  but  I  feel  sure  we  do  not  place  as 
much  importance  on  the  Oriental  situation  as  this 
will  affect  the  world  order.  More  and  more  the 
Orient,  and  especially  China,  is  going  to  play  a 
larger  part  in  determining  world  conditions.  This 
fact  and  the  other,  that  I  am  better  acquainted  with 
the  land  where  I  have  given  so  much  time,  will  cause 
me  to  confine  what  I  say  of  The  Call,  to  China  in 
the  main.    I  do  this  for  a  number  of  reasons. 

China  has  the  oldest  and  most  conservative  ci\dli- 
zation  in  the  world,  and  in  breaking  with  the  old 
order,  she  will  have  more  to  leave  than  any  other 
country.  The  chasm  between  the  oldest  and  most 
highly  civilized  of  the  ancient  civilization  and  the 
throbbing  modem  life  of  to-day  is  greater  and  more 
difficult  to  span.     China  in  accepting  modern  life 

99 


100  MEN  AND  METHODS 

will  make  the  biggest  step  ever  made  by  any  great 
nation. 

Although  this  is  true,  China  is  calling  with  more 
unanimity  and  more  earnestly  than  any  nation  in 
the  past  for  the  blessings  of  our  civilization  both 
material  and  spiritual.  I  mention  a  few  of  the  ways 
whereby  she  is  calling  for  these  blessings  and  why 
we  should  heed  the  call  with  all  our  forces. 

1.  China  calls  by  the  greatness  of  the  task. 
Some  four  hundred  millions  of  souls,  hopelessly 
bound  to  superstition  and  all  the  baneful  influences 
of  idolatry,  depending  on  us  for  the  Gospel  as  their 
only  hope.  One-fourth  of  the  human  family  lives 
in  China,  and  she  largely  dominates  the  religious  life 
cf  over  one-third  of  the  human  race.  Other  coun- 
tries may  conquer  China  with  the  sword,  may  over- 
run the  country  wdth  religious  formalism  as  Bud- 
dhism did  in  the  early  Christian  era,  yet  China 's  fine 
moral  and  ethical  teachings,  the  finest  in  all  the 
world  except  where  Christianity  has  influenced  the 
masses — will  subjugate  her  conquerors  in  the  end. 
There  is  no  reason  to  make  us  believe  that  China  will 
not  dominate  the  Orient  in  these  things  in  the  future 
as  she  has  in  the  past.  The  immense  numbers  and 
importance  of  the  Middle  Kingdom  give  us  many 
reasons  for  heeding  the  Call,  giving  great  impor- 
tance to  the  demands  of  the  hour. 

2.  Not  only  numbers  call  to  us  but  the  kind  of 
men  and  women  add  to  the  importance  of  the  Call. 
The  Chinese  youths  are  taking  their  place  in  the 


THE  PEESENT  CALL  101 

great  institutions  of  learning  the  world  over  as 
among  the  most  promising  thinkers  we  have.  The 
average  Chinese  we  see  in  the  West  do  not  represent 
the  better  class  at  all.  The  Chinese  are  among  the 
world's  greatest  races  and  her  man  power  is  capable 
of  the  highest  development;  hence  they  should  not 
be  counted  of  little  concern  in  the  world  situation. 

3.  She  appeals  to  us  by  her  great  needs.  When 
Paul  was  at  Troas  and  saw  the  Macedonian  and  the 
appalling  needs  of  that  land,  he  gathered  assuredly 
that  the  Lord  was  calling  him  and  his  party  to 
preach  the  Gospel  unto  them.  Any  people's  need 
for  the  Gospel  will  appeal  to  all  children  of  God  as 
these  needs  appear. 

No  pen  can  describe  the  needs  of  the  Chinese  with- 
out the  Gospel.  The  physical,  intellectual,  and 
spiritual  needs  beggar  description.  Spiritual  needs 
are  certainly  the  greatest,  yet  we  can  understand  the 
physical  best.  In  the  United  States  it  is  estimated 
that  we  have  one  physician  to  every  thousand  of  the 
population;  yet  in  China  one  doctor,  understanding 
medical  science,  to  every  five  hundred  thousand  to 
one  million  of  the  population.  Famine  of  soul  and 
body  is  seen  on  every  hand.  Just  to-day  I  note  in 
the  paper  that  it  is  estimated  that  one  thousand  are 
dying  every  day  in  that  land  because  of  famine.  It 
will  grow  worse  every  day  until  the  winter  is  past 
and  next  spring  crops  ripen.  China  makes  the 
largest  appeal  purely  from  the  humane  motive  than 
any  nation  in  the  world. 


102  MEN  AND  METHODS 

4.  She  appeals  to  us  by  her  friendliness.  In 
the  past  for  many  good  reasons  China  was  afraid  of 
the  West,  afraid  we  did  not  love  her  and  desire  to 
deal  with  her  fairly,  and  to  our  mutual  good;  but 
that  day  is  happily  disappearing,  and  she  is  looking 
to  us  sincerely  and  longingly  for  real  help,  and  de- 
pending on  us  for  knowledge  and  right  living.  She 
is,  at  least,  ready  to  consider  carefully  the  truth 
which  we  have  in  Christ  Jesus,  as  to  how  this  will 
meet  her  needs  in  the  new  order  fast  appearing. 
This  is  true  not  only  of  the  common  people,  but  the 
highest  officials  and  the  nation's  most  hopeful  lead- 
ers. Although  many  of  the  officials  are  not  prepared 
to  yield  themselves  to  the  Saviour,  they  still  realize 
Christianity  has  the  power  and  the  remedy  for  their 
people's  ills,  hence  are  friendly  to  the  Gospel  and 
are  giving  money  to  its  propagation  and  urging 
others  to  consider  its  claims. 

Some  of  the  leading  officials  are  accepting  Chris- 
tianity. Just  before  I  left  Canton  I  attended  a 
great  gathering  of  all  classes  of  officials,  both  Chinese 
and  others.  Many  speeches  were  made  as  to  the  na- 
tion's needs.  Near  the  close  the  Chief  Justice  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  a  Chinese,  arose  and  said:  **I  am  a 
Christian,  and  I  want  to  testify  to  you  all  that 
China's  only  hope  is  in  Christianity."  When  he 
said  this,  many  of  the  Chinese  officials  clapped  their 
hands  with  joy.  Four  years  ago  the  governor  of 
Kwang  Tung  Province,  a  Province  with  thirty  mil- 
lions of  human  souls,  gave  a  reception  to  the  mission- 


THE  PEESENT  CALL  103 

aries.  Many  high  officials  of  China  and  other  na- 
tions were  present.  This  governor  said  he  wanted 
to  give  this  reception  to  show  his  appreciation  of  the 
work  of  the  missionary.  He  praised  their  work  most 
highly.  He  and  his  associates  gave  nearly  a  thou- 
sand dollars  to  one  of  our  schools.  The  military  gov- 
ernor of  the  Province  gave  the  last  three  years  some 
five  thousand  dollars  to  our  medical  work,  and  his 
government  gave  a  plot  of  land  for  our  hospital  in 
Canton,  Tung  Shan,  worth  about  ten  thousand  dol- 
lars. The  officials  of  various  classes  are  giving  liber- 
ally to  the  Christian  institutions.  This  means  more 
in  China  for  the  officials  to  show  this  friendliness 
than  almost  any  country  in  the  world. 

We  do  not  put  too  much  stress  on  this  Mnd  of 
friendliness,  but  it  shows  us  that  all  hearts  are  ready 
to  consider,  desire  to  understand  what  Christianity 
has  for  their  country ;  and  this  is  the  opportune  time 
to  give  them  the  blessings  of  the  Gospel,  and  let  them 
understand  the  power  of  Christianity  to  meet  the 
individual  and  national  needs. 

5.  She  is  calling  by  the  voice  of  the  Master. 
These  needs  and  opportunities  are  nothing  more 
than  the  voice  of  the  Saviour  calling  us  to  heed  them 
for  Him.  The  Christ  in  every  human  heart  must 
see  in  his  brother's  call  the  appeal  of  the  Master  to 
meet  this  need.  The  Chinese  are  calling  and  the 
Lord  has  prepared  their  hearts.  Western  culture 
and  commerce  may  seek  to  answer  this  call.  China 
is  asking  for  bread,  shall  we  give  her  a  stone  ?    She 


104  MEN  AND  METHODS 

is  asking  for  a  fish,  shall  we  give  her  a  serpent? 
Men  and  women  of  God  must  answer  this  question. 
Who  should  go  and  meet  this  call  speedily?  The 
Master  has  prepared  human  hearts  for  His  coming, 
and  He  has  prepared  us  through  the  centuries  to 
meet  the  situation.  Some  may  give  money,  others 
may  spend  time  in  prayer;  but  in  the  last  analysis, 
success  depends  on  the  kind  of  men  we  send  to  these 
needy  fields. 

At  home  Christianity  being  fairly  well  established 
will  move  along  certain  lines,  supported  by  systems 
and  organizations.  It  has  nothing  of  this  to  lean  on 
in  the  non-Christian  lands.  It  is  dependent  upon 
the  personal  life  of  the  men  and  women  who  go  there 
as  Christ's  direct  representatives  to  reveal  Him  to 
the  needy  people  and  hush  their  cries  of  distress  by 
giving  unto  them  Christ  Jesus.  This  being  true,  we 
ought  to  send  the  men  and  women  who  will  most 
fully  represent  Christ,  most  faithful  to  His  ideals, 
life,  and  plans  in  meeting  the  needy  world.  I  be- 
lieve He  has  in  the  home  churches  the  labourers  ready 
to  meet  the  call  if  they  will  heed  the  Master  and  be 
absolutely  in  His  hands  for  world  conquest. 

I  believe  we  are  likely  to  make  a  mistake  by  think- 
ing we  must  have  a  definite  call,  like  unto  Paul  or 
some  other  missionary,  before  we  go  to  these  mission 
fields.  Have  not  the  great,  waiting  harvest  fields 
already  suffered  because  we  expect  too  much  in  the 
Cain  Did  not  the  Master  call  all  His  disciples  for  all 
time,  as  He  left  for  the  Father's  right  hand,  to  go 


THE  PEESENT  CALL  105 

into  all  the  world  and  make  disciples  of  the  nations  ? 
Has  He  ever  revoked  this  call?  I  know  the  Lord  is 
good  to  us  and  accommodates  His  dealings  with 
us  often  according  to  our  condition;  hence,  He  may 
give  us  a  special  call — we  have  so  long  expected  it — 
yet  it  is  a  reproach  on  us  that  this  is  still  necessary 
for  the  foreign  fields.  An  examination  of  the  experi- 
ence of  many  of  the  world's  greatest  missionaries 
shows  that  many  of  these  never  had  what  some  peo- 
ple expect  in  a  special  call.  They  received  the  call  in 
the  farewell  orders  and  in  the  crying  needs  of  dis- 
tress and  gathered  assuredly,  as  Paul,  that  the  Lord 
was  calling  them  to  preach  the  Gospel  unto  these 
people.  The  very  fact  that  great  sections  of  the 
world  are  wholly  in  darkness  without  one  messenger, 
and  we  can  remain  untouched  with  their  needs  and 
expect  a  special  call,  is  unthinkable  in  a  world  where 
all  fields  are  one  with  our  Master.  With  Him  no 
foreign  or  home — it  is  the  world  that  makes  the  field. 
No  difference  as  to  which  side  of  the  street  you  live 
on,  the  stream,  the  ocean,  or  anything  else — it  is  a 
question  of  human  souls  for  whom  He  died  needing 
our  help  to  give  them  the  Gospel. 

I  am  sure  some  men  have  had  special  calls,  and 
this  has  been  a  great  comfort  to  them;  but  others 
have  not,  and  yet  they  are  doing  just  as  good  work, 
meeting  the  world's  needs.  Paul  in  Galatians  1 :  15, 
16,  has  these  words,  ''But  when  it  was  the  good  pleas- 
ure of  God,  who  separated  me  even  from  my  mother's 
womb,  and  called  me  through  his  grace,  to  reveal 


106  MEN  AND  METHODS 

his  Son  in  me,  that  I  might  preach  him  among  the 
Gentiles ;  straightway  I  conferred  not  with  flesh  and 
blood. ' '  Paul  was  fitted  by  birth  and  by  the  revela- 
tion of  Christ  to  become  the  successful  missionary  to 
the  Gentiles.  He  lived  in  rebellion  for  years,  but 
when  he  saw  Christ  and  surrendered  his  will  and  life 
wholly  unto  Christ,  then  the  Lord  could  use  him  in 
a  large  way  to  plant  the  saving  truth  in  the  hearts 
of  the  growing  Western  world. 

"We  are  fitted  by  nature  and  by  training  and  revela- 
tion for  the  foreign  work.  It  is  far  more  important 
for  us  to  judge  our  duty  to  the  needy  fields  by  these 
things  than  to  expect  **a  special  call'*  as  you  think 
Paul  had,  but  his  special  call  was  to  know  Christ  and 
then  he  was  ready  to  do  anything  the  Lord  wanted 
him  to  do.  The  same  principle  is  seen  in  Isaiah's 
call.  The  present  need  is  for  us  to  see  also  our  duty 
by  the  same  method,  *'And  straightway  confer  not 
with  flesh  and  blood, '*  counting  it  all  joy  to  be  able 
to  "go  far  hence." 

Our  God  makes  no  mistakes.  He  works  hitherto 
and  we  should  work.  The  fields  are  ready  for  the 
reaper,  and  many  of  them  will  go  to  waste  if  we  do 
not  permit  the  Lord  to  use  us  to  save  them  for  Him. 
Every  child  of  the  Master  should  lay  his  life  on  the 
altar  to  be  used  wherever  the  Saviour  wants  to  use 
him  and  in  the  way  that  will  accomplish  the  most 
good.  If  he  will  heartily  do  so.  He  will  use  him  to 
meet  the  situation ;  but  if  he  does  not,  the  failure  will 
be  his  and  the  results  to  his  hurt.    Years  ago  near 


THE  PEESENT  CALL  107 

my  home  in  China,  a  mob  attacked  the  Presbyterian 
Mission.  As  the  mob  began  to  form,  some  mission- 
aries of  another  mission  were  near  the  mob.  They 
had  been  there  quite  a  while.  They  were  urged  to 
quell  the  mob  in  its  ineipiency,  and  many  believed 
they  could;  but  for  reasons  known  alone  to  them, 
they  made  no  effort,  and  the  mob  grew  in  size  and 
violence  until  all  property  belonging  to  the  Presbyte- 
rian Mission  was  burned,  and  the  missionaries  were 
hunted  out  of  the  cave  near  by  and  shamefully  mur- 
dered. Many  said  that  the  blood  of  these  murdered 
missionaries  would  be  on  those  who  could  and  did 
not  rescue  them.  If  this  is  true,  what  about  the 
millions  in  darkness  who  can  never  hear  the  glad 
tidings  unless  we  carry  it  to  them?  We  can  do  it 
now,  and  if  we  do  not,  will  not  their  blood  be  on  us  ? 
Paul  said  he  was  free  from  the  blood  of  certain 
people  because  he  declared  unto  them  all  the  counsel 
of  God — gave  them  the  Gospel  in  its  fullness.  This 
is  the  only  way  we  can  be  free  from  the  guilt  of  long 
neglect.  May  we  be  willing  instruments  in  His  hands 
for  meeting  the  world's  needs. 


THE  CHURCH'S  DUTY  TO  HER  WORLD 

MEN 

THE  work  at  home  is  inseparably  bound  to 
the  struggle  in  the  *  *  regions  beyond, ' '  and 
in  failing  to  back  up  adequately  our  world 
men  wherever  they  are,  we  greatly  annul  their  work. 
It  is  one  battle — and  only  one — regardless  of  local- 
ity. We  are  seeking  to  overthrow  the  kingdom  of 
the  world  and  establish  the  Kingdom  of  God.  To 
neglect  our  world  men  we  court  failure  even  at 
home,  as  the  kingdom  of  darkness  in  the  outljdng 
immense  untouched  fields  will  more  and  more  cast 
its  baneful  shadows  upon  our  home  lands.  In  this 
chapter  I  want  to  suggest  some  ways  we  can  help 
our  world  men  most. 

1.  It  is  exceedingly  important  that  we  start  them 
right.  Most  missionaries  are  made  before  they  ever 
reach  the  fields.  First  of  all  they,  like  Paul,  are 
made  by  the  gifts  of  nature  (and  these  are  of  God), 
and  are  called  out  by  His  grace  and  trained  through 
the  *' hidden  years  in  the  home,'^  and  in  the  church 
and  schoolroom.  We  are  determining  the  success  of 
their  lives  in  all  the  battles  in  our  relation  to  them 
in  the  early  days  of  preparation  in  the  life  of  the 
church  where  they  live. 

108 


THE  OHUECH'S  DUTY  109 

This  being  true,  we  must  keep  the  churches  true  to 
the  ideals  and  plans  and  methods  of  our  Lord  where 
the  future  leaders  of  all  lands  live.  It  is  worthy  of 
note  that  the  church  at  Antioch,  which  sent  out  the 
first  foreign  missionaries  of  world  influence,  was  in 
the  right  attitude  towards  the  Lord  and  His  work 
when  these  first  missionaries  were  called  out  and 
started  on  their  career.  Notice  the  following, — 
''They  spake  also  unto  the  Greeks,  preaching  the 
Lord  Jesus."  *'The  hand  of  the  Lord  was  with 
them;  and  a  great  number,  that  believed,  turned 
unto  the  Lord."  ''And  much  people  were  added 
unto  the  Lord."  *'Even  for  a  whole  year  they  were 
gathered  together  with  the  church,  and  taught  much 
people."  It  was  natural  and  easy  for  the  Holy 
Spirit  to  say  to  a  church  aflame  with  the  revival 
fires,  daily  ministering  unto  the  Lord,  fasting  and 
praying,  "Separate  me  Barnabas  and  Saul  for  the 
Avork  whereunto  I  have  called  them."  After  prayer 
and  the  laying  on  of  hands  these  men  went  forth  by 
the  Holy  Spirit  unto  the  heathen  world  with  a  power 
and  devotion  that  won  idolatrous  peoples  every^vhere, 
witnessing  with  boldness  in  the  midst  of  all  trials 
and  conditions. 

The  church  that  does  the  Lord's  work  in  the 
Lord's  way  will  have  the  needed  volunteers  and  will 
start  them  out  right.  Who  can  estimate  the  power 
of  that  precious  experience  that  Barnabas  and  Saul 
had  at  Antioch  as  these  missionaries  came  in  contact 
with  the  forces  of  darkness  as  they  sought  to  liberate 


110  MEN  AND  METHODS 

the  people  with  the  Gospel.  When  the  temptations 
and  treacherous  onslaught  of  the  evil  one  came,  they 
could  always  revert  to  the  holy  hour  at  Antioch  when 
the  voice  of  duty  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  confirmed  by 
the  brethren  in  Christ  Jesus,  spoke  to  them  and 
urged  them  on  with  a  devotion  and  a  power  that 
would  stand  against  **all  the  fiery  darts  of  the 
wicked  one/'  Fortunate  is  the  missionary  that  has 
such  a  church  and  such  an  experience. 

Beyond  all  doubt  one  of  the  greatest  hindrances 
to  the  volunteer  and  the  world  program  of  our  Lord 
is  the  condition  of  the  home  churches.  The  Master 
cannot  call  out  the  needed  workers  and  prepare  these 
for  the  greatest  leadership  while  the  churches  are 
primarily  concerned  about  questions  of  secondary 
importance,  and  are  indifferent  about  the  Lord's 
world  plans  of  conquest.  We  shall  lack  the  right 
kind  of  kingdom  leaders  for  world  conquest  until  our 
churches  give  the  Father's  will  first  place  in  abso- 
lute surrender  for  saving  the  waiting  nations  with- 
out a  messenger  of  hope  and  salvation.  We  must 
revert  back  to  original  devotion  and  zeal  for  the 
Lord's  truths  and  life  as  shown  in  the  Antioch 
church  where  the  salvation  of  the  lost  in  their  own 
midst  and  the  needy  world  was  given  first  place, 
teaching  them  all  things,  giving  first  place  to  these 
things  as  revealed  in  their  willingness  to  spend  so 
much  time  in  prayer  and  fasting. 

It  must  have  been  such  a  joy  to  have  a  church  like 
Antioch  to  follow  these  early  missionaries  as  they 


THE  CJHURCH^S  DUTY  111 

went  forth,  Christ's  ambassadors  to  the  non-Christian 
lands.  It  also  must  have  been  a  great  joy  to  the 
church  to  have  such  missionaries  to  labour  with  the 
church  in  making  known  the  glad  tidings  to  those  so 
long  in  darkness,  and  have  these  missionaries  return 
and  tell  what  great  things  the  Lord  had  done  for  the 
Gentiles  through  their  work  and  that  of  the  co- 
operating church.  After  reporting  the  first  visit, 
they  start  on  the  second,  going  to  larger  fields,  and 
on  and  on  till  great  numbers  heard  the  Gospel  for  the 
first  time.  In  fact,  the  trend  of  civilization  and 
Christianity  was  directed  for  all  future  days.  If  all 
our  churches  (and  0  that  they  might  be!)  were  like 
this  great  missionary  church  in  their  relation  to  the 
Master  and  the  great  truths  of  His  Gospel  in  word 
and  action  and  the  Saviour's  chosen  world  men,  we 
would  soon  remove  the  shameful  stigma  of  Christian- 
ity of  this  day,  that  almost  two-thirds  of  the  human 
family  is  still  without  the  Gospel,  and  the  churches 
still  merely  playing  with  the  problem  of  world  con- 
quest, satisfied  to  enjoy  the  comforts  and  infinite 
blessings  of  the  Gospel  here  at  home,  and  consider  the 
winning  of  the  non-Christian  lands  of  small  conse- 
quence if  anything  is  done. 

2.  So  deal  with  the  volunteer  in  his  early  impres- 
sions as  to  make  it  easy  for  him  to  carry  into  effect 
his  * '  heavenly  vision. ' '  We  should  enable  the  volun- 
teer to  prepare  for  the  most  efficient  service  regard- 
less of  cost  and  labour.  The  destiny  of  the  churches 
at  home,  as  well  as  the  foreign  fields,  depends  upon 


112  MEN  AJ^D  METHODS 

the  world  men  in  a  large  way ;  hence,  the  investment 
of  greatest  importance  is  in  these  men,  giving  them 
the  highest  training  in  the  schools  best  fitted  to  do 
this  work.  To  neglect  them  and  cripple  their  work 
of  preparation,  we  weaken  every  phase  of  the  world 
efforts  of  the  churches.  Every  volunteer,  whom  we 
have  good  reason  to  believe  is  chosen  of  the  Father 
for  world  conquest,  ought  to  be  given  the  best 
training  obtainable  in  institutions  thoroughly  com- 
mitted to  the  Lord  and  His  ideals  for  the  world's 
needs. 

3.  There  is  one  phase  of  training  needing  strong 
emphasis  still  unmet  by  our  churches;  namely,  the 
special  course  for  the  volunteer  just  ready  to  leave 
for  the  non-Christian  lands,  which  will  seek  to  give 
him  a  practical  knowledge  of  the  conditions  he  must 
face  where  he  is  to  labour  and  how  he  may  meet  well 
the  problems  of  health  and  adjustment  so  as  to  live 
long  and  laboui^  well.  We  need  recruiting  stations 
(shall  we  say?)  prepared  to  give  the  volunteer,  just 
ready  to  enter  the  foreign  fields,  a  clear  insight  into 
the  phj^sical  and  spiritual  laws  of  highest  efficiency 
where  he  is  to  labour,  and  thereby  avoid  great  waste 
of  manhood  that  has  characterized  so  much  of  mis- 
sion work  in  the  past.  I  know  we  have  mission 
courses  in  many  of  our  theological  institutions,  but 
these  ordinary  courses,  splendid  as  they  are,  do  not 
meet  the  need  I  have  in  mind. 

For  the  sake  of  emphasis  I  repeat  that  the  waste 
on  the  foreign  field  is  far  greater  than  it  ought  to  be. 


THE  CHUECH'S  DUTY  113 

Many  have  to  return  to  the  home  land  without  re- 
maining over  one  term  of  service,  and  as  the  first 
term  is  largely  given  to  preparation,  such  workers 
are  practically  lost  to  all  great  effort  for  world  con- 
quest. Men  who  are  prepared  to  know  the  situation 
best  say  that  the  missionary  ought  to  live  just  as  long 
and  do  about  as  much  work  on  the  foreign  fields  as 
in  the  home  land  if  he  is  prepared  to  study  conditions 
and  adjust  his  life  to  these  conditions.  This  being 
true,  it  is  imperative  for  the  churches  to  guide  the 
volunteer  and  young  missionary  as  to  how  he  can 
meet  well  these  conditions ;  and  more  important  still, 
let  him  know  the  situation  as  it  is  and  the  first  duty 
on  his  part  to  study  and  make  well  the  adjustment. 
Men  who  will  not  take  this  phase  of  the  work  seri- 
ously are  unfit  to  be  entrusted  with  great  responsi- 
bilities. A  number  of  our  existing  institutions  ought 
to  add  a  special  course  to  the  work  already  done  that 
will  give  the  outgoing  soldier  these  practical  lessons. 
Such  a  course  ought  not  to  take  more  than  four  or 
five  months  of  practical  study,  and  this  could  be  done 
in  connection  with  other  work. 

A  number  of  business  firms,  e.  g.,  Standard  Oil  of 
United  States,  will  not  entrust  their  foreign  men 
with  the  responsibility  of  handling  great  business 
problems  until  these  m.en  have  special  instruction  as 
to  how  to  live  and  labour  in  the  fields  where  they  are 
to  go.  If  this  is  necessary  for  men  who  are  to  sell 
Standard  Oil  products,  how  much  more  so  for  the 
missionary  of  the  eternal  Gospel  for  man's  salvation, 


114  MEN  AND  METHODS 

and  who  is  to  labour  under  far  more  trying  condi- 
tions than  the  average  business  man. 

It  is  also  well  worth  repeating  that  the  United 
States  Army  would  not  permit  her  soldiers  to  go  to 
Europe  until  these  men  had  their  special  training  in 
the  recruiting  station.  Previous  training,  be  that 
ever  so  good,  did  not  exempt  a  single  man.  He  must 
have  this  special  training.  We  are  going  to  labour 
under  conditions  much  more  difficult  than  those  the 
soldier  had  to  face  in  Europe.  He  was  there  for  a 
short  while.  We  are  in  the  battle  for  life.  He  had 
a  definite  task,  soon  to  be  accomplished;  we  are  to 
labour  until  all  the  peoples  know  the  Lord  from  the 
least  to  the  greatest.  There  are  a  hundred  reasons 
why  the  missionary  should  have  this  special  training 
where  there  was  one  that  the  soldier  needed  such 
training. 

The  missionary  recruiting  stations  ought  to  be  held 
under  sacred  environments  where  his  world  visions 
will  be  strengthened  and  all  forces  made  ready  for 
the  battle.  The  men  who  give  these  special  courses 
ought  to  be  those  who  know  the  fields  thoroughly  and 
the  problems  of  development  first  hand.  Only  such 
could  give  the  practical  lessons  needed  and  the  em- 
phasis on  the  work  of  special  training.  It  would 
follow  that  only  missionaries  could  give  these  lessons, 
but  the  boards  could  use  the  men  and  women  on 
furlough  or  detained  because  of  health  reasons. 
Yet  the  importance  of  the  task  is  so  exceedingly 
far-reaching  that,  if  necessary,  it  would  be  wise 


THE  CHTJECH'S  DUTY  115 

to  call  a  man  or  so  now  and  then  from  the  battle- 
field in  order  that  this  preparatory  work  should  be 
done  by  competent  men,  and  not  left  entirely  to 
chance  or  men  who  must  theorize  and  dwell  too  much 
with  the  abstract. 

The  work  of  special  training  should  have  a  climax 
with  a  great  mission  gathering  where  the  leading 
home  workers  mostly  concerned  in  the  world  battle 
could  meet  with  these  departing  ''overseas  men/' 
and  give  them  a  farewell  like  Paul  and  Barnabas 
must  have  had  at  Antioch,  binding  the  home  forces 
close  to  the  foreign  army.  It  would  be  such  a  bless- 
ing to  the  home  forces  as  well  as  these  world  men  to 
have  such  a  meeting. 

4.  Back  up  the  missionary  adequately  after  he 
reaches  the  field.  This  is  of  surpassing  importance. 
No  great  battle  has  ever  been  won  where  the  home 
forces  did  not  stand  by  their  soldiers.  This  can  be 
done  in  a  number  of  ways. 

(a)  Keep  in  touch  with  the  missionary.  Many  a 
soldier  found  that  his  home  people  and  the  pastor  did 
not  keep  in  touch  with  him  as  he  had  hoped.  Many 
times  this  was  due  to  thoughtlessness.  I  knew  a 
young  soldier  who  did  not  hear  from  home  as  he  ex- 
pected, and  he  sent  a  cable  from  France  for  home 
news.  The  pastor  who  failed  to  keep  in  touch  with 
his  soldier  boys  made  a  mistake  that  is  difficult  to 
correct.  The  missionary  does  not  look  to  men  as  the 
soldier  may  have  done,  but  still  the  missionary  needs 
the  home  sympathy  and  touch  with  God's  people  if 


116  MEN  AND  METHODS 

his  morale  is  always  its  best  and  he  labours  with  the 
greatest  zest  in  the  hardest  fields.  This  may  be  done 
through  letters,  prayers,  and  faith. 

(h)  Give  sufficient  equipment.  It  is  a  waste  of 
man  power — and  this  is  our  greatest  asset  in  any 
field — for  us  to  send  men  to  these  fields  and  not  equip 
them  for  the  best  work.  As  a  rule  these  missionaries 
are  still  doing  foundation  work — w^e  are  not  needed 
where  this  is  not  still  true.  He  does  not  have  the 
support  of  organization  and  long-standing  practices, 
which  we  have  at  home,  hence  he  must  depend  on 
what  he  has  in  the  way  of  support  as  you  send  it. 
Russia  was  lost  to  the  Allies,  many  think,  because 
she  did  not  have  an  adequate  supply  of  ammunition 
at  critical  times.  Many  a  young  life  in  the  mission 
field  with  the  noblest  aims  loses  his  zeal  and  wastes 
his  energy  because  he  lacks  the  necessary  munitions 
of  the  warfare.  Good  homes,  large  and  sanitary, 
should  be  provided  for  every  man  where  he  can  keep 
the  noblest  ideals  of  our  home  life  pure  and  strong  in 
a  strange  land  where  these  things  will  preserve  his 
health,  conserve  his  energy  for  the  work,  and  teach 
the  natives  many  needed  lessons  which  cannot  be 
taught  by  words.  He  must  also  have  a  workshop,  a 
school,  a  hospital,  a  church,  a  book-room,  or  a  hostel 
where  he  can  come  in  touch  with  men  and  train  them 
for  the  kingdom.  The  workshop  is  even  often  more 
important  than  any  other  equipment,  for  here  one's 
life  is  spent. 

Our  Father  is  richly  blessing  us  in  material  wealth. 


THE  CHUECH'S  DUTY  117 

We  have  more  of  this  than  any  nation  in  the  world. 
He  has  done  this  that  we  might  be  able  to  equip  His 
work  on  the  various  needy  fields.  If  the  average 
laymen  could  see  the  poor  equipment  whereby  most 
missionaries  labour  in  the  mission  fields,  I  believe 
they  would  be  constrained  to  come  to  our  help  in  pro- 
viding the  material  equipment  while  we  give  our 
lives  to  the  task  that  is  our  brothers'  in  the  home  land 
as  well  as  ours  who  labour  in  the  trenches.  I  rejoice 
in  the  great  advancement  made  in  recent  years,  yet 
we  are  just  beginning  to  meet  the  vast  needs  of  the 
marching  army,  in  the  way  of  material  equipment. 

(c)  Pray  constantly  for  our  missionaries  and  their 
converts.  All  labourers  and  all  equipment  of  a  ma- 
terial kind  must  fail  unless  we  obtain  spiritual  vision 
and  power,  and  we  need  your  prayers  above  every- 
thing else  for  these  things.  In  every  church — in 
fact,  every  child  of  God — should  unite  their  daily 
prayers  for  the  great  outstanding  struggle  that  is 
now  on,  and  must  intensify  with  the  years,  in  the 
Orient  and  other  mission  fields.  The  soldiers  whom 
you  have  helped  to  send  out  are  in  the  greatest  battle 
ever  fought  by  men  of  God,  the  organized  forces  of 
evil  thoroughly  entrenched  in  the  customs,  supersti- 
tion, and  sin-enslaved  hearts  of  the  untouched  mil- 
lions. The  struggle  will  require  the  strength  of 
many  of  our  best  trained  men  and  women  in  kingdom 
warfare.  We  need  the  united  prayers — ^'^  fervent 
prayer  of  faith'' — and  such  prayers  will  be  "effec- 
tual" to  the  saving  of  many  souls. 


118  MEN  AND  METHODS 

Many  chains  of  influence  can  be  traced  to  the 
prayers  of  some  person  or  church  in  the  home  land 
going  to  God  in  behalf  of  the  work  in  the  foreign 
fields.  I  will  mention  only  one.  The  wife  of  Hon. 
Mr.  Liu,  ambassador  from  China  to  the  Court  of 
St.  James,  London,  England,  years  ago  was  healed 
by  our  physician  in  South  China.  She  was  visited 
by  the  physician's  wife  and  told  of  the  Saviour.  She 
was  willing  to  give  up  idolatry  and  all  heathen  cus- 
toms except  worshipping  the  graves  of  her  people — 
filial  piety  she  must  continue.  She  was  told  that  she 
had  to  make  the  complete  surrender  to  be  a  disciple 
of  the  Master.  She  hesitated.  The  missionary  in 
charge  wrote  letters  to  his  co-labourers  in  Macon, 
Atlanta,  and  other  points  in  Georgia,  U.  S.  A.,  asking 
that  they  pray  especially  for  this  woman.  A  great 
volume  of  prayer  went  to  the  Father  on  her  behalf. 
In  a  short  while  she  made  the  full  surrender,  and 
has  ever  since  been  one  of  the  leading  Christians  in 
her  church.  Through  her  influence,  cooperating 
with  others,  many  have  been  won  to  Christ,  and 
among  the  number  the  wife  of  Dr.  Sun  Yat  Sen,  the 
first  President  of  China.  Doubtless  the  influence  of 
this  woman  will  never  cease  in  winning  souls  to 
Christ  until  He  will  come  to  receive  His  own  to  be 
forever  with  the  Lord.  Those  who  prayed  for  her 
in  the  United  States  were  co-labourers  with  the  mis- 
sionary and  will  share  with  the  reward. 

It  would  be  a  happy  arrangement  if  churches  at 
home  would  make  it  a  business  to  pray  for  certain 


THE  OHUECH'S  DUTY  119 

fields  in  China,  and  the  labourers  on  these  fields  would 
constantly  keep  the  home  churches  informed  as  to 
the  need  of  prayer  and  give  various  objects  for 
prayer.  It  would  be  a  measureless  blessing  to  the 
work  in  these  mission  fields  and  also  to  the  work  at 
home.  Every  child  of  the  Father  certainly  ought  to 
have  a  real  part  in  the  work  by  the  prayer  of  faith, — 
co-workers  with  the  Saviour  in  our  behalf  through 
prayer,  and  then  we  will  hasten  the  glad  day  when 
the  nations  shall  know  Him. 

We  are  realizing  the  wealth  of  prayer  more  in 
these  days  through  our  knowledge  of  physical  laws. 
If  the  physical  laws  are  so  delicate  that  an  influence 
started  in  the  Occident  speedily  finds  its  way  to  the 
Orient  and  the  ends  of  the  earth,  how  much  more  so 
is  this  true  of  spiritual  forces.  Several  years  ago 
Japanese  scientists  at  Nagasaki  detected  earthquake 
waves,  and  declared  there  had  been  a  disturbance 
somewhere.  In  a  short  while  the  cables  brought  the 
news  that  a  city  had  been  destroyed  in  South  Amer- 
ica by  a  terrible  earthquake.  This  earthquake  oc- 
curred almost  as  far  away  as  possible  from  Japan 
and  China,  yet  the  waves  of  influence  were  speedily 
wafted  to  these  distant  shores.  Just  so  in  all  social 
and  industrial  and  spiritual  reforms  in  the  West. 
These  send  their  influence  to  the  uttermost  parts  of 
the  earth  far  more  rapidly  than  we  realize.  We  can- 
not live  to  ourselves  in  the  West,  and  the  East  also 
cannot,  even  if  so  desired.  Every  life  well  lived  for 
the  Master  anywhere  in  the  world  is  going  to  start 


120  MEN  AND  METHODS 

influences  that  will  reach  distant  shores  and  add 
force  to  the  powers  of  righteousness  seeking  to  make 
a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth  wherein  dwelleth  the 
benign  influences  of  our  Master. 

In  the  spring  of  1919  the  Chinese  Government 
made  a  notable  bonfire  at  Shanghai  burning  publicly 
opium  worth  about  twenty-five  million  dollars. 
Many  tried  to  persuade  China  to  use  this  opium  for 
medical  purposes,  but  she  was  not  willing  to  make 
the  compromise.  However,  back  of  this  bonfire  were 
many  noble  praying  men  and  women  of  England 
and  the  United  States  and  other  countries,  who  had 
spent  much  time  in  preparing  the  Chinese  Govern- 
ment for  this  great  event,  and  who  no  doubt  decided 
the  issue  days  before  through  spiritual  forces.  The 
army  of  the  Ancient  of  Days  had  worked  for  years 
on  this  problem,  and  the  world  stood  amazed  at  a 
non-Christian  nation  winning  a  victory  for  humanity 
seldom  equalled  even  in  the  so-called  Christian  lands. 
The  praying  bands  of  the  world  did  much  to  bring 
about  this  event,  which  will  in  turn  do  much  to  make 
effective  the  missionary  propaganda  in  China  and  all 
non-Christian  lands. 

I  mention  these  incidents  to  impress  afresh  upon 
our  minds  that  the  home  forces  and  the  foreign  are 
interdependent  and  inseparably  bound  together  in 
the  world  conflict.  If  the  home  forces  do  not  do 
their  duty  to  the  world  men,  we  are  weakening  the 
battle  line  that  is  bound  to  affect  in  a  most  serious 
way  the  whole  situation.    If  the  home  and  foreign 


THE  CHUECH'S  DUTY  121 

alike  do  their  full  duty,  the  resultant  power  and  in- 
fluence will  grow  with  ever-increasing  magnitude 
until  His  glorious  name  will  be  known  and  praised 
from  the  River  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  and  none 
shall  need  to  say,  Know  the  Lord,  for  all  will  know 
Him  from  the  least  to  the  greatest. 

May  each  child  of  our  Saviour  and  Lord  do  his 
whole  duty  in  the  way  the  Master  will  gladly  guide  all 
willing  hearts,  and  contribute  his  share  to  the  world 
battle.  If  each  will  do  this,  the  long-delayed  glad 
tidings,  that  the  Saviour  has  come  to  bring  salvation 
to  all  peoples,  will  speedily  reach  the  weary,  waiting 
nations.  The  light  of  His  resplendent  glory  that 
shone  first  on  the  hills  of  Bethlehem  over  nineteen 
hundred  years  ago  will  be  given  the  opportunity  to 
pierce  and  dissipate  the  dark  places  of  this  earth, 
bringing  peace  and  gladness  to  disturbed  hearts  and 
chaotic  civilizations,  hopeless  without  the  Gospel.  If 
His  children,  who  have  known  the  infinite  blessings 
of  the  Gospel  to  the  individual  and  society,  will  make 
their  chief  joy  and  duty  to  proclaim  these  glad  tid- 
ings to  all  the  earth,  our  Lord  and  Master  will  see  the 
travail  of  His  soul  and  be  satisfied.  If  the  message 
of  this  book  will  in  any  way  help  the  laboTirers  in 
God 's  kingdom  at  home  or  abroad  to  understand  how 
they  may  live  and  labour  to  bring  about  these  most 
desired  ends,  I  shall  be  thankful  indeed  to  Him 
Whose  we  are  and  Whom  we  serve. 

Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


MIS6fC»JS 

jUTDREW F.  HENSET,  P.P.  or  «*.  co»e.  Miu^. 

A  Master-BtlUder  on  the  Congo 

A  Memorial  to  the  Service  and  Devotion  of  Rob- 
ert Ray  Eldred  and  Lillian  Byers  Eldred.  Illus- 
trated, i2mo,  cloth,  net  75c. 

A  graphic  and  spirited  record  of  the  labors  of  those  devoted 
missionaries  to  the  Congo,  Robert  Ray  Eldred  and  his  wife. 
Mr.  Hensey  displays  his  historical  instinct,  and  has  been  en- 
abled to  produce  a  book  calculated  to  both  find  and  retain  a 
prominent  place  in  contemporary  missionary  literature,  not 
only  as  the  fascinating  story  of  selfish  and  untiring  service, 
but  as  an  informative  work  of  reference  concerning  that  part 
of  the  Dark  Continent  in  v-hich  his  subjects  lived  and  labored. 

GERTRUPE    R.    HANCE 

The  Zulu  Yesterday  and  To-Day 

Twenty-five  Years  in  South  Africa.  Introduction 
by  Edgar  L.  Vincent.    Illustrated,  cloth,  net  $1.25. 

The  author  knows  the  Land  of  the  Zulus,  as  it  was,  as  it 
is  to-day,  and  what  she  knows  she  tells  in  a  charming  frank 
and  interesting  fashion.  Due  credit  is  given  in  this  volume 
to  civilization  (considered  merely  as  such)  for  the  v/onderful 
advance  made  in  late  years  in  the  condition  of  the  native 
tribesman  of  South  Africa;  yet  there  is  nowhere  any  doubt 
in  the  mind  of  its  author  as  to  the  Gospel  of  Christ  having 
been  the  chief,  and  primal  caus«  of  his  uplifting. 

SAMUEL^  GRAHAM _  WILSON, _P.  D^       Thirty-two  Years 

Resident  in  Persia 

Modern  Movements  Among  Moslems 

i2mo,  cloth,  net,  $1.50. 

"Not  often  does  there  appear  a  more  important  work  in  a 
special  department  than  this  of  Dr.  Wilson.  Dr.  Wilson's 
thirty-two  years  of  residence  in  Persia  and  his  earlier  studies 
in  Bahaism  have  prepared  him  for  authoritative  speaking 
here.  It  constitutes  an  excellent  argument  against  those  who 
think  of  missionaries  in  petty  terms.  Here  is  the  book  of 
statesmanlike  thinking." — The  Continent. 

S.  M.  ZJVEMER,  P.P.,  F.R.G.S. 

The  Disintegration  of  Islam 

Illustrated.    i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.25. 

Dr.  Zwemer  traces  the  collapse  of  Islam  as  a  political 
power  in  Europe,  Asia  and  Africa,  as  well  as  the  inevitable 
effect  the  impact  of  Western  civilization  has  had,  and  is  still 
having,  on  the  countries  over  which  it  still  holds  sway.  All 
this  tends  to  the  final  disintegration  and  overthrow  of  Mo- 
hammedanism in  fulfilment  of  a  Divine  plan  of  preparednesf 
fer  the  evanirelizstioa  of  Moslem  laads. 


ABOUT  OTHER  LANDS 


HENRY  CHUNG 

The  Oriental  Policy  of  the  United  States 

With  maps,  i2mo,  cloth,  net 

A  plea  for  the  policy  of  the  Open  Door  in  China,  pre- 
sented by  an  oriental  scholar  of  broad  training  and  deep 
sympathies.  The  history  of  American  diplomatic  relation- 
ships with  the  Orient,  the  development  of  the  various 
policies  and  influences  of  »hc  •western  powers  in  China, 
and  the  imperilistic  aspirations  of  Japan  are  set  forth  ad- 
mirably. 

CHARLES  KENDALL  HARRINGTON 

Missionary  Amer.  Baptist  F$reign  Miss.  Socisiy  to  JaPan 

Captain  Bickel  of  the  Inland  Sea 

Illustrated,  8vo.,  cloth,  net 

"EJspecially  valuable  at  this  hour,  because  it  throws  a 
flood  of  light  on  many  conditions  in  the  Orient  in  which 
all  students  of  religious  and  social  questions  are  espe- 
cially interested.  We  would  suggest  that  pastors  generally 
retell  the  story  at  some  Sunday  evening  service,  for  here 
is  a  story  sensational,  thrilling,  informing  and  at  the  same 
time  a  story  of  great  spiritual  urgency  and  power." — 
Watchman-Examiner. 

HARRIET  NEWELL  NOTES        Canton,  China 

A  Light  in  the  Land  of  Sinim 

Forty-five  Years  in  the  True  Light  Seminary, 
1872-5917.    Fully  Illustrated,  8vo.,  net 

"An  acithoritative  account  of  the  work  undertaken  and 
achieved  by  the  True  Light  Seminary,  Canton,  China. 
Mrs.  Noyes  has  devoted  practically  her  whole  life  to  this 
sphere  of  Christian  service,  and  the  record  here  presented 
IS  that  of  her  own  labors  and  those  associated  with  her  in 
missionary  activity  in  China,  covering  a  period  of  mor« 
than  forty-five  years." — Christian  Work. 

MRS.  H.  G.   UNDER1V00D 

Underwood  of  Korea 

i\  Record  of  the  Life  and  Work  of  Horace  G. 
Underwood,  D.D.    Illustrated,  cloth,  net 

"An  intimate  and  captivating  story  of  one  who  labored 
nobly  and  faithfully  in  Korea  for  thirty-one  _years,_  pre- 
senting his  character,  consecration,  faith,  and  indomitable 
courage." — Missions. 


MISSIONS  AT  HOME  AND  ABROAD 
CAROLINE  ATH^ATER  MASON  Auihcrr  or  The LittU 

■    '        ■"  Green  God,"'  eit.. 

Conscripts  of  Conscience 

i2mo,  cloth,  net  $i.oo. 

A  plea  in  story  form  for  volunteers  for  Medical  Mission 
work  in  the  Orient  by  a  writer  of  recognized  literary  gifts. 
The  heroic,  the  sacrificial,  have  been  in  continued  evidence 
during  our  World-War.  A  parallel  field  of  opportunity  is 
here  presented  with  every  promise  of  equal  stimulus  to 
times  of  peace. 

ROBERT  E.  SPEER,  LLP. 

The  Gospel  and  the  New  World 

i2mo,  cloth,  net  $2.00. 

Dr.  Speer's  qualifications  for  reviewing  the  situation 
need  no  recital.  It  is  sufficient  to  indicate  that  with  his 
customary  force  and  clarity,  he  covers  the  whole  subject 
of  Foreign  Missions  in  the  light  and  darkness  of  war. 

CHARLES  L.  THOMPSON,  P.P. 

The  Soul  of  America 

The  Contribution  of  Presbyterian  Home  Mis- 
sions.   Illustrated,  cloth,  net  $1.25;  paper,  net  50c. 

A  lucid,  clearly  defined  statement  of  what  has  been  done 
on  the  North  American  continent,  in  Home  Mission  field 
by  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

friNIFREP  fr.  BARTON 

John  P.  Williamson 

A  Brother  to  the  Sioux.  Drawings  by  John 
Redowl.    Illustrated,  i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.75. 

"On  the  prairies  Dr.  Williamson  spent  a  life  of  over 
eighty  years  crowded  with  adventures,  hardships  and  toil 
as  he  laid  out  trails  for  civilization.  Such  men  are  our 
truest  empire  builders." — Albert  Wens  in  The  Dakota 
Farmer. 

ELIZABETH  LEHMAN  MYERS 

A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

A  Record  of  Christian  Community  Life.  Illus- 
trated by  F.  J.  Myers.    Cloth,  net  $1.50. 

"Gives  an  impetus  to  the  spirit  of  simple  faith  and 
practical  devotion  that  cannot  help  but  be  far-reaching  in 
its  effect." — Bethlehem  Times. 

IVILLIAM  EARL  LA  RUE 

The  Foundations  of  Mormonism 

i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1,25. 

Bruce  Einney  says:  "The  author  has  discovered  and 
here  brought  together  original  documents  bearing  on  the 
origin  and  history  of  all  branches  of  the  Mormon  Church. 
They  are  so  startling  that  they  must  be  either  accepted  or 
disproved." 


LIGHT  FROM  THE  ORIENT 


REV,   PAUL  KANAMORI 

The  Three  Hour  Sermon-— on  God, 

Sin  and  Salvation 


Introduction  by  Robert  E. 
Speer.    Net  $1.25. 

Here  is  a  sermon  which  has 
been  preached  over  eight  hun- 
dred times  in  Japan,  and  secured 
nearly  50,000  conversions.  Rob- 
ert E.  Speer  says:  "Many  who 
have  heard  of  Mr.  Kanamori's 
sermon  have  wished  to  know 
how  an  able  Japanese,  with  such 
an  experience  as  Mr.  Kanamori, 
could  put  the  Christian  Message. 
I  trust  it  may  have  a  wide  circu- 
lation." 


THE 

THREE  HOUR 

3ERM0N 

PAUL  KANAMORT 


SAMUEL  M.  ZJVEMERy  F.  R.  G.  S. 

A  Moslem  Seeker  After  God 

The  Life  and  Teaching  of  Al-Ghazali,  Mystic 
and  Theologian  of  the  Eleventh  Century.  Illus- 
trated, net  $2.25. 

A  volume  of  intensely  interesting  data  concerning  the 
life,  influence  and  teaching  of  the  great  Persian  mystic 
Al-Ghazali,  one  of  the  very  greatest  figures  in  the  Mo- 
hammedam  world.  A  notable  addition  to  literattire  on  this 
subject. 

JENNIE  V.  HUGHES 

Chmese  Heart  Throbs 

Introduction  by  Mary  Stone  (Shih  Mei  Yu),M.D. 
Illustrated,  i2mo,  net  $1.50. 

A  charming,  tender  series  of  sketches  and  stories  writ- 
ten by  one  who  for  many  years  has  been  a  missionary  in 
China.  Miss  Hughes  displays  a  rare  insight  into  and 
sympathy  with  the  people  of  the  I^and  of  Sinim.  Her 
work  is  instinct  with  the  trvie  missionary^  spirit,  rendered 
eminently  readable  by  many  touches  of  literary  grace. 

MRS,  LUCY  S.  BAINBRIDGE 

Jewels  from  the  Orient 

Illustrated,  i2mo,  net  $1.00. 

All  the  world  has  become  our  next  door  neighbor  in 
these  days.  To  know  its  homes  and  manners  of  living, 
its  superstitions  and  worship,  is  part  of  a  good  education. 
To  this  end  there  are  many  helpful  books,  among  which 
these  personal  sketches  of  real  people  in  Eastern  lands 
will  have  their  own  place. 


Princeton  Theological  Seminanr  Librar^^^ 


1    1012  01234  0172 


Date  Due 

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J 

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1  i' 

.  i  1 

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